A NEW YEAR alert has gone out over an
ongoing online UK tax scam!
For while email seasonal greetings and
cards were being exchanged by
thousands of expat families in Spain,
fraudsters were once more circulating
messages purporting to be from the UK
tax authorities to trick expatriates into
revealing their bank details.
What Costa del Sol resident Rita
Arnold thought might be a tax rebate
bonus has since been confirmed as a
huge scam.
She received an email that looked
totally authentic from what she thought
were the tax authorities stating that she
was owed £300 (€372).
They requested she fill in a form with
her account number, how much money
was in her credit card account, and also
passwords.
Clearly had she provided the details as
requested, instead of receiving a £300

(€372) payment to her account, she
would have found it rifled by the scam
originators.
Mrs Arnold decided to check the email
with her lawyer son and he immediately
identified it as a fraud.
She is not the only British expatriate to
have received such scam attempts.
Six months ago Siobhan Hutton* of
Benalmadena received an email
seemingly carrying an HM Revenue and
Customs letterhead with the subject
‘Unclaimed Tax Refund Notification’.
But something did not seem quite
right with the email, even though at first
glance it appeared authentic.
So Mrs Hutton phoned the British tax
authorities with regard to the possible
£239.41 (€300) rebate.
And she was immediately warned it
was a scam.
“They asked me to forward the email
Turn to Page 5

FLASHBACK: Shoppers out seeking bargains at
last year’s winter sales.

All geared-up for
the winter sales

TRADERS are now
gearing up hoping for
a business bonanza
when the annual
winter sales open on
Monday.
Shoppers
able to splash the

Mayor blasts ‘shameful’ binmen
REFUSE COLLECTORS who
went on strike have been
branded ‘shameful’ after a
spate of vandalism.
During the strike, bins
were set on fire or

overturned, rubbish trucks
were damaged and paint,
plaster and glass were
thrown at local schools.
The
local
mayor,
Francisco Salado, laid the

blame on the workers, and
said their behaviour was
shameful and showed an
anti-democratic attitude.
“A strike doesn’t give
anyone the right to

endanger other people,” he
said,
“especially
not
children, nor damage public
property.”
The week-long rubbish
strike in Rincon de la
Victoria also angered
residents and business
owners.
Locals in areas including
Parque Victoria, Benagalbon,
Torre
de
Benagalbon, El Cantal, El
Castillon and La Cala del
Moral complained that
several days after the strike
had been called off there
were still full containers and
refuse on the streets which
attracted rats.
President of the Business
Association (ACERV) Jose
Antonio Villodres said more
care had been taken to
clean up the town centre.

cash - or with plans to
hit their credit cards will
find
many
bargains,
with
discounts of up to 70
per cent.
Shops hope - Page 3

FRONT EXTRA

Sweet plan
A GROUP has been set
up to demand that
plans for the Sugar
Museum go ahead at
the old sugar factory
instead of the Innovation and Business
Management Centre
proposed by the local
Conservative Partido
Popular.

Tasty crumbs
TORROX held the
31st edition of its
‘Crumbs Day’, attended by 30,000 people with a love for
‘migas’ made with
flour, water, olive
oil, garlic and salt.

2 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com

NEWS

Law to legalise
homes limited
RESIDENTS in the Axarquia region are
not convinced that the Andalucian
Government

3 - 9 January 2013
Axarquía - Málaga East

decree to legalise homes built on nonurban land is effective.
Ten months after it came into effect,
the majority of owners of
illegally built houses in
the Axarquia have still not
requested their legalisation and only a few
town halls have taken
measures to help the
process.
When a General Plan
for Urban Development
does not apply, the
councils are required to
DOG OF THE MONTH: Do something that matters.
identify areas where there
are numerous buildings
on non-urban land.
Neither have they
approved laws regarding
AXARQUIA Animal Rescue is a small group of
the minimum standards
volunteers dedicated to helping and rehoming
which houses must meet
animals in the Axarquia region.
in order for them to be
To help raise funds, the charity has
considered inhabitable.
produced a 2013 Calendar, featuring local
Many claim they are
men posing with some of the dogs who have
waiting for the regional
found new families.
government to approve
The calendar is available for €10, to order a
guidelines.
copy visit: www.axarquianimalrescue.com.

Doggy calendar

NEWS EXTRA

Budget
cave-in
THE
Nerja
Cave
Foundation’s
2013
budget has been
reduced by €220,000
from last year’s €4.42
million to €4.2 million.

Red aid
FOR a sixth consecutive year, VelezMalaga
Socialist
Youngsters
have
donated toys and
food to the Red
Cross’
Regional
Assembly to help
people in need.

Double luck
A ONCE – the lottery
run by Spain’s Blind
Association – seller in
Velez-Malaga has sold
for the second time in
2012 a winning ticket
with a prize of €6,000
a month for 25 years.

NEWS

3 - 9 January 2013

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

Shops hope for sales cash-in

SHOPS throughout Spain are hoping to cash in
when the winter sales start on Monday.
But many traders predict a similar pattern to
buying as last January’s sales when shoppers
generally sought bargains at leading High Street
brands - including Zara and Mango - while many
smaller local traders found it difficult to attract
extra business.
Discounts ranging from 20 per cent in some
stores up to half-price buys, and even 70 per cent
off some items, can be found, and some shops
even put up the sales stickers immediately after
Christmas.

MALAGA Provincial Government
is asking the European
Commission
to
fund
a
€253,000 project to improve
the employability of those
jobless aged 16 to 24 in
Axarquia towns with fewer
than 20,000 inhabitants.

Final push
A GRANT of €87,000 to
complete the equipping of
the building destined to
host the future Nerja Social
Services Centre has been
approved
by
Malaga
Provincial Government.

Tapas crawl
A NEW edition of VelezMalaga’s Tapas Route kicked
off yesterday, going on until
Monday (January 7) with the
participation of 18 local
businesses.

More taxis
THE Andalucian Government’s
pending decree allowing taxi
drivers throughout Malaga
Province to carry out prebooked services from Malaga
City tourist hot-spots like the
airport and the port has been
backed by Torrox Council.

predict the sales to boom as they did last year.”
Meanwhile, Zara shop assistant Maria Gonzales
said she and colleagues expect next Monday’s
two-month-long sales to be similar to those a
year ago. “We should be very busy, especially
with most of our customers in the 16-35 age
bracket.”
But Pepe Torres from a nationwide electrical
store was not too optimistic. “Family budgets
continue to be hard hit. While some will have
saved to make one-off buys, in general we do not
expect business levels to be the same as the
good old days five or six years ago,” he said.

ALL 135,000 copies of
the Euro Weekly News
are from this week
onwards being printed
on recycled newsprint.
In keeping with
many major publishing
houses, EWN has now
switched to the use of
recycled paper, adding
to increasing global
efforts
to
further
safeguard the environment by reducing the
amount of trees felled
to produce paper of all
forms.
Changing to recycled
paper has in no way
affected the quality of
printing, or picture
reproduction,
with
many readers not
noticing recent trials
carried out prior to the
now complete full
switch.
Maddocks’ View
on Life - Page 21

Three Kings...bearing gifts
and ‘naughty’ black sweets

Y

OUNG and old throughout
Spain will flock to see the
Three Kings on Saturday
evening.
This is the highlight of the local
non-expatriate festive celebrations
as the Three Kings - the Three Wise
Men in UK Christian tradition - their
pages and cartoon characters,
accompanied by floats and music,
parade through villages, towns and
cities.
And annually, wide-eyed children
look on as symbolically the Kings
distribute thousands of sweets to
onlookers, with some youngsters
even holding opened umbrellas to
catch the goodies as the floats pass.
Traditionally Spanish children
believe that the Kings - Melchior,
Gaspar and Balthasar - deliver
presents on January 5 night, leaving
their shoes on window sills to be
filled with gifts which they have
asked for.
Those who have not behaved might
expect to find a sack of ‘coal’,
represented by black,
sugary sweets,
which can be
found
in
many shops.
On
January
6
morning,
when
the
children receive

Quote of the week
SHE should say sorry more
often
and
accept
responsibility’

Axarquía - Málaga East

NATURSPORTS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Europe
cash call

One Costa del Sol commercial centre trader
said she had started her sales offers early “to
catch business before the Christmas visitors and
tourists returned home.”
And Dunnes Stores, an Irish brand with outlets
on the Costa del Sol and Axarquia, began small
reductions before Christmas “to encourage
customers to part with their last bit of cash,”
explained Beatriz Garcia.
“And on Monday, our main sales of up to 50 per
cent will take effect. The past week has been a
little quiet. It seems as though people are waiting
for the sales before spending any more. We

3

Water funds
flood in
AN investment of €15.33
million by The Ministry Of
Agriculture, Food And
Environment will be made
in the modernisation of
irrigation facilities near the
River Velez.

No reduction
SMILING KING: Letters to ponder from children. Rosco de
Reyes (left).
their presents, many families enjoy the
traditional ‘Roscon de Reyes’, a large, ringshaped cake, filled with cream and covered with
candied fruit, representing the Kings’ crowns.

Number of the week

the maximum price of a
€16.1 isbutane
gas bottle, which will

remain the same in 2013, while electricity bills
will increase by 3 per cent, the Ministry of
Industry, Energy and Tourism has announced.

TORROX COUNCIL will
not reduce by 35 per
cent
equalling
€137,900
the
€394,000 annual fee it
charges
chiringuito
owners, after backing
an appeal against the
proposed measure.

and finally...
A MAN, 61, was arrested at Sevilla Airport upon
arrival on a flight from Brazil, after police detected
11 kilos of cocaine in his luggage.
It was hidden in a sound system which officers
noticed was unusually heavy.

RETROSPECTIVE Look back on

2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

PP wants to put the
music back in Nerja

A LAW banning outdoor music on
terraces at Nerja’s hotels, bars
and restaurants could be a thing
of the past.
The Conservative Partido
Popular (PP) in Nerja approved a

measure to make exceptions to
the Junta de Andalucia law
regarding noise. The aim is to
put an end to a situation which
the local Councillor for Tourism
Development and Beaches

Bernardo Pozuelo referred to as
‘unheard-of’.
Nerja, with 4,852 available
beds, is the seventh town in the
province for hotel availability,
beaten only by Torremolinos,

Benalmadena,
Marbella,
Fuengirola,
Malaga
and
Estepona.
It has been a popular
destination since the caves
opened more than 50 years ago.

RY
A
U
BR
E
F
NEWS

2 - 8 February 2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Collecting bottle tops to help son News
watch
A WOMAN in Velez-Malaga is
collecting plastic bottle tops which can
be sold for recycling to raise money to
help her son, Ezequiel, who is 11 and
has cerebral palsy.
The family, who have another two
children, mainly need to widen doors,
corridors and rooms in their home, as
well as adapt the bathroom and other
areas to Ezequiel’s special needs.

They estimate it will cost €12,000
and with bottle tops selling at around
€1 for five kilos, they will need a lot
of plastic lids. They currently have no
idea of how many have been collected
since November last year, as they are
storing them on their balcony and on
a plot of land belonging to a relative.
Laura told EWN: “it is amazing how
people have helped with our cause. I

don’t like asking for money, but
collecting the plastic bottle tops, it
costs them nothing because they
would only throw them away, and it
helps us.”
Anyone interested in helping can
take the bottle tops (any plastic lid is
valid) to the Colegio Andalucia in
Velez Malaga, Calle Alcalde Manuel
Reyna, 8.

A double celebration
for Piqué and Shakira

Health centre
THE Junta de Andalucia
Health Delegation has
promised that La Cala
del Moral Health Centre
will be opened next
Monday It will provide

Erotic calls
cost €3,460
A MAN from Motril has
been sentenced to pay a
€540 fine for breaking
into
a
house
in
Calahonda (Malaga) and
spending more than
€3,460 calling erotic
phone lines over several
days in December 2007.
He will also have to pay
back the money.

Rodent issue
VELEZ-MALAGA Town
Hall has announced

February 2 Issue 1387
been going on since 2008.
The tests are allowing
experts to study the
extinction
of
the

CUEVA DE NERJA: Discovered remains being studied.
Neanderthal man and
how
they
possibly

cohabited with the Homo
Sapiens in the caves.

Axarquía - Málaga East

Y
AR
U
N

JA

NEWS

5 - 11 January 2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

4% property tax increase refused News
watch
VELEZ-MALAGA Town Hall has
announced that it will not apply the
four per cent property tax rise
announced by the government.
The new central government, with
the Conservative Partido Popular’s
Mariano Rajoy at the helm, announced
the rise amongst a series of urgent
budget, tax and financial measures to
reduce public deficit.

Largest chocolate
bar on record
MORE than 100 people
took part in making the
‘largest bar of chocolate
in the world’ in Montilla,
Cordoba to help local
Alzheimer’s patients. It
was 250 metres long
and 25 centimetres
wide.

The local councillor for Economy and
Taxes, Manuel Gutierrez (PP), said
that the town hall had approved a
measure in 2007 not to put property
tax up, and that by Royal Decree, the
town is exempt from the new plan. If
the tax was increased, local citizens
would have to pay €381,000 more.
He also said that in the coming
weeks, the town hall will pay the aid

A day for
the royal
radio
ham to

for Property Tax to residents who
requested it for 2010 and 2011 but
who at the time had any type of debt
with the local administration or were
not registered properly.
Now that 800 residents have paid off
their debts, they will receive the
money from February onwards. This
year, the grants will amount to
€4 million.

Long wait
MALAGA City Hall is still
awaiting a final decision
on the ownership of the
Campamento Benitez
military facilities, closed
16 years ago, for which
there were plans for it
to become a park.

Popular centre

Civil protection
new volunteers
THE Civil Protection
department in Rincon
de la Victoria now has
17 new volunteers,
bringing the total to 50,
who help in rescue and
safety operations as
well as patrolling the
beaches in the summer.

Illegal houses
TORROX Town Hall
has estimated that
there are more than
2,000 illegally built
houses within the
municipal
limits.
Taking inventory of
the houses will help
them obtain benefits

January 5 Issue 1383

However,
Pozuelo
said:
“Imagine what tourists must say
of a law which bans music
outside at any time of day,
even before the time for
rest which is 11pm.”
In many parts of Spain,
the number of open-air
Led by Professor Jose
terraces with music has led
Luis Sanchidrian, the team
to complaints but in Nerja
took samples from the
the PP believes the finanhigher galleries of the
cial and social interests are
caves and the ‘Sala del
more important.
But the Socialist PSOE
Cataclismo’ which were
party said that the rules in
sent to the USA for
Andalucia are ‘very clear’
analysis, and proved to be
and there is ‘no sense in us
more than 40,000 years
telling the Junta that music
old. Garrido explained that
now this has been
be allowed in certain areas
confirmed, research will
of hotels’.
focus on studying the
Hoteliers say that they
paintings to ascertain
would take measures so
that times and noise limits
whether they are of a
similar age as the remains.
were respected.

Cave paintings could be oldest in Europe
By Jennifer Leighfield
ORGANIC remains found
in the Cueva de Nerja
suggest that the paintings
in the caves could be
more than 40,000 years
old, making them the
oldest known in Europe.
Curator at the caves,
Antonio Garrido, said that
tests have been carried
out on organic remains
found near the cave
paintings, as part of a
conservation and research
programme which has

Flood-hit road
finally reopens
THE A-7202 road
between
Archidona
and Villanueva del
Trabuco has been
reopened to traffic
following the repair of
damage caused by the
September floods.

Clear path
MALAGA City Council has said it will
remove chairs and
tables from pavements in El Palo and
Pedregalejo areas.

EWN

5

Axarquía - Málaga East

Showing the way
SIGNPOSTING works on four trekking
routes in Almuñecar have been approved
by the town’s Sports and Environment

Councillor Luis Aragon.
The project, which is 60 per cent
funded by the Andalucian Government,
will cost €40,000.
Every sign will be in
Spanish and English and
include the name and
map of the route, as well
as technical information
like the slope, length,
duration, and difficulty
level, with a brief
description of the route’s
HARDY SOULS: Swedes prepare for the plunge.
points
of
interest.
Addresses and telephone
A GROUP of Swedish tourists, most of whom are numbers of emergency
pensioners and some in their 90s, celebrated services will be listed.
The project will also
Christmas with a dip in the sea off Almuñecar’s San
include two viewpoints of
Cristobal beach.
local beauty spots

Swedes’ chilly dip

Expat tax scam alert

From Front Page
to
phishing@hmrc.
gsi.gov.uk so that the
matter
could
be
investigated further.
“They told me they never
make contact by email,
which immediately alerted
me that it was clearly a
total fraud and scam.”
A pensioner, Mrs Hutton
has been in Spain for the
last nine years, and lives in
semi-retirement.
Sadly, her husband
Reginald recently died, but
this has not put a stop to
the scam attempts to trick
her.
“Since last August I have
received four or five more

emails, advising that I still
have time to claim the
rebate due to me,” she said
days after Christmas.
“The original, and all
subsequent
correspondence, at first glance
looks authentic, and is in
generally good English,
though there were minor
errors in them, including
‘receiving’ incorrectly spelt
twice.
“No doubt the scam
attempts will continue
throughout 2013.
“All expatriates should be
very cautious and not be
tricked,” Mrs Hutton added.
*Name changed upon
request to retain privacy.

A FLIGHT instructor and a
British man were killed
when their two-seater
plane crashed in Malaga.
The accident, thought to
have been caused by
strong winds, occurred at

around 3pm on Sunday
after the light aircraft
approached the runway
near
Velez-Malaga
aerodrome, according to a
local Spanish daily.
The landing was aborted
and the British trainee pilot
tried unsuccessfully to

regain height, explained
Carlos Sedano, VicePresident of the Real
Aeroclub de Malaga.
On seeing the aircraft go
into a spin, witnesses
called the emergency
services.
The aeroplane crashed

1 - 7 March
2012

www.eu roweek

lynews. com

NEWS

Taxi fare ‘do
dger’ acqu
itted

EWN 3
Axarquí a
GRANAD
- Málaga
A Provinc
East
acquitted
ial Court
a man who
Chiclana
took a taxi has
However,
in Cadiz
he appeale
to Almuñec from and the
failed to
d the sentenc
provinci
pay the
ar and
e
driver in
2009.
favour because al court ruled
The court
December
in his
believes
as he told
beforehand
failed to
that although
He had formerly
the
abide by
he
been sentenc
fraud for
money, he that he did not havedriver service,
the terms
which he
didn’t commit
of the
any because he did not
was required ed for
a fine
He promise
commit
fraud.
he left his
of
to
fraud
d that he
compensation €720 and €380 pay arrival in
driver.
ID card
would pay
with the
Almuñec
for the journey
as so.
ar but failed upon
taxi driver.
In
Accordin
to the
to do did addition, it was
driver to g to the court, he
possible
intend
told the
that
wait while
to get the
mother for
neither his
money but he
he asked
money to
mother nor
that
pay the fare. his whom he
NERJA Town
had spokenhis boss, with
Hall plans
journey,
to diversify
during the
would give
its offer for
it to him.
tourists by
opening a
TORROX Town
hostel from
Hall will give
which they
a month’s
can visit the
free advertisin
Sierras
on the municipa
g
Tejeda, Almijara de
station to companiel radio
and
Alhama Natural
s which
Park.
give jobs of
at
months durationleast three
VELEZ-MALAGA
to local
residents,
has announce Town Hall
or three months
d it will stop
for tho
paying th
A

ews
Nwatc
h
Mountain
refuge

Free advertising

March 1 Is
sue 139
A French tou
ch to
English br
eakf t

Settling debts

Too slow

1
failed to pay
the service providers.
He also took community and
maintenance fees from homeowners
which he later failed to hand over to
the community or presented cheques
which were returned for lack of funds.
The Briton was arrested in May
2009 and has been in prison on
remand for 16 months.
He has reached an
agreement with the
public
prosecutor
wherein he will also
have to pay €151,000
a Briton died
for civil liability.
The sentence is
in El Trapiche, an area
considerably less than
where other light aircraft
the nine and 12 years
that
the
public
have gone down in the
prosecutor and a
past. The two men were
private prosecution
identified as 35-year-old
brought against him
Francisco Javier Comes
were
asking
for
and Luis Rivera, also 35,
respectively, but those
the flying instructor and
affected by the fraud
the Briton respectively.
have also agreed to it.

community of 130 homes between
2006 and 2009. He was charged with
misappropriation and fraud after
keeping money belonging to
homeowners, a local Spanish daily
reports.
The public prosecutor claimed that
he took possession of several
cheques, claiming that he was going
to pay for work to be done, but later

Probe into mystery Velez plane crash
By Staff Reporter

April 19 Issue 1398

A BRITISH man, 52, who is the
former President of the Capistrano
Playa urbanisation in Nerja, has
accepted a prison sentence of four
years for fraud.
The man, who is identified only by
the initials M.P.T., was president of the

RCH
A
M

8

RETROSPECTIVE Look back on

EWN

3 - 9 January 2013

2012

www.euroweeklynews.com

Axarquía - Málaga East

2 held as armed
robbery foiled
By Linda Hall
TWO hooded men
took €22,282 after
pistol-whipping and
tying up a cinema
manager at a VelezMalaga
shopping
centre.
The attack took
place shortly after
10pm at the cinema
complex at El Ingenio
as
the
manager
prepared to count the
takings from previous
days.
One of the men
threatened
the
manager with a gun
before hitting him
over the head with
the
butt,
police
sources disclosed.
After falling to the
floor with a wound

Y
MA
NEWS

10 - 16 May 2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

7-star hotel works begin soon News
watch

By John Jackson
WORKS to build Spain’s first 7-star hotel
are expected to begin shortly in
Almuñecar.
This was revealed by Councillor Jose
Manuel Fernandez Medina to Europa
Press who said the only remaining
obstacle is the regional government’s
environmental impact report which the
council expects are just ‘days away’ from

being produced. Assuming there are no
issues with the report, works would
begin on the Bahia Fenicia hotel within a
couple of weeks.
In September last year, Maria Jose
Sanchez, the regional government’s
delegate in Granada said the Junta
would not obstruct the proposed Bahia
Fenicia complex if all legal requirements
were met.

Mum seeks
the truth
A CADIZ judge ordered the
province’s first exhumation to
determine whether two allegedly
dead newborns were actually
‘stolen babies.’

There had been earlier doubts on the
Malaga and Granada boundary after May
2011’s municipal elections brought
changes in the neighbouring province.
These, too, had been solved, said local
entrepreneurs and the Banyan Tree
Hotels & Resorts’ €230 million investment
was set to go ahead. This will be the
group’s their first Spanish venture and
should create employment for 600 people.

A policeman’s
lot...
LOCAL POLICE work
more than eight hours a
day so time sheets are
calculated annually.
So far, so good – but
not in Salobreña, where
overtime was eliminated
to cut costs.
The town’s 22 officers
have each worked 576 of
their annual 1,272 hours,
with only 87 shifts
remaining. Unless they
work
overtime,
Salobreña will have no
Local Police cover after
September. ‘Working out
time sheets is always a

May 10 Issue 1401
that later needed
seven stitches, he
was immobilised with
adhesive tape. At this
point the second
man entered the
manager’s office and
opened
the
safe
before both departed
with its contents.
Unknown to the
thieves they had

been seen putting on
the balaclavas they
wore for the robbery
and
the
police
alerted.
One of them was
intercepted
on
Avenida del Sol. A
search
of
his
backpack revealed
not only the money
but also a balaclava,
gloves and plastic
restraints.
Criminal
investigation officers at
Velez police station
located the accomplice, an employee at
the centre with inside
knowledge, two days
later.
The
man
who
allegedly injured the
cinema manager was
remanded in prison.

IN ACTION: Firefighters extinguish the blaze which destroyed 2,000m2 of land.

Residents
flee forest
fire in
Almuñecar
RESIDENTS of Los Pinos Urbanization in
Almuñecar had to be evacuated from
their homes for several hours after a fire
broke out in a nearby pine forest.

E
JUN
21 - 27 June 2012
www.eurow eeklynews.c

om

NEWS

Colmenar mayor carri
es on

EWN

regardless

THE mayor of
Colmenar, Antonio
Fernandez, refuses
They also accuse
to resign although
him of chairing
his Friday’s council
party, the PP, is in
last
the minority.
meeting and introducing declared. He could not understand
Fernandez has
why
the Opposition
headed a minority proposals which had not been
agreed as irresponsible insisted on labelling him
council since last
November, supported beforehand and were later defeated.
.
by just one other
He intends to continue
Fernandez claimed:
PP councillor. The
as the head
“There are nine
ninestrong Opposition,
composed of PSOE the town hall, a defiant Fernandez of councillors and they can’t
agree over
and IU councillors
told forming an
together with another the Spanish news agency EFE.
alternative administratio
Together His day-to-day
from Convergencia
with the other
n.”
Andaluza, is calling
PP councillor, he
routine progresses
for determined
Fernandez to leave
‘with
to oversee the running was normality’, he insisted,
his post.
despite the
of the precarious
town and protect
situation of the
residents’ interests,
council he
he presides over.

Rundown
school
denounced
THE ‘bad’ state
of the El
Ingenio infant
school in
Frigiliana has been
denounced
by various residents
and
Socialist
PSOE
party
spokesman Adolfo
Moyano.
“There are wood
splinters,
screws and nails
loose, the
slide moves a d
th

June 21 Issue 1407

3

Axarquía - Málaga
East

N ews
watch
Busiest port
in province
THE dry docks
at
Caleta de Velez
Port
received almost
690
boats over last
year,
making it the busiest
in
Malaga Province.
In
the nine dry docks
in
Andalucia managed
by
the Junta there
were
4,381 boats.

Bilingual bid

PARENTS
of
students at CEIP
Los Llanos School
in
Torrox-Costa have
reportedly decided
to ask the Andalucia
Regional Education
Ministry
to
i

Some 2,000 square metres of land was
destroyed by the fire.
It is still being investigated how the
fire first started.

Police investigate blazes
A FIRE has destroyed an area of palm
trees, avocado trees and bushes near the
A-7 ringroad in Torre del Mar.
The blaze started at around 4pm
between
El
Ingenio Shopping
Centre, the Juan
Azuaga football
Y
L
ground and the
JU
Viña
Malaga
urbanisation.
Due to the
o mayor N
ej
strong
winds
at
rn
fa
Al
ed against
Case shelv
on the day,
the flames
reached up
to
one
metre
high
9
sue 140
July 5 Is
3

EWN
East

Axarq uía

NEWS

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Traffickers
caught

POLICE
NATIONAL
seven people
arrested
n 18 and
aged betwee
d of drug
42 accuse and illegal
in
trafficking
possession
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2012
5 - 11 July
news .com

f h Bulls

in
parking
METERED
and La
Almuñecar will be in
Herradura and August
July
e in
place in
not continu the
and will
In
September. area of the
commercial
will only
to
centre parking
d from 9am

and firefighters found it difficult to put them
out.
No-one was injured and no evacuation of
the shopping centre or nearby homes had
to be carried out.
Police are investigating the cause of the
fire, as they believe it could have been
started deliberately, local mayor, Francisco
Delgado, announced.
Local resident Roland Gillett reported
that a lot of trees were burnt or charred
and that the flames came very close to a
house which he says ‘fortunately was not
damaged’.
He also confirmed that there had been a
spate of fires in the area in the past monthand-a-half which police are now
investigating.

THE
Junta
de
Andalucia is demanding that Colmenar
Town Hall returns €2
million which it was
given in grants but
never used.
However, PP Mayor
Antonio
Fernandez
says the municipal
coffers are in a ‘dire’
state.
Mayor
Fernandez
maintains that the
money, which should
have been assigned to
five infrastructure and
equipment projects,
was used by the
former Socialist mayor,
Pedro Fernandez, on
other things.
The
projects
included a day-care
centre (for €530,000),
the municipal morgue
(€150,000) and repairs
on the Virgen de la
Candelaria hermitage,

ST
U
G
AU
16 - 22 August 2012

NEWS

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

Church
to be
restored
THE Eastern Costa del SolAxarquia
Community
of
Municipalities has completed
plans for the restoration of the
Santa
Maria
Church
in
Corumbela, Sayalonga, with a
budget of €213,000.

Weekend fun
AN O tl t F i

ill b

h ld

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Wine discovered in ancient vase
WINE dating from the first century AD
has been found in an amphora which was
kept amongst the archaeological finds at
Velez Malaga Town Hall.
Councillor for Culture Antonio Fortes
announced that the find comes from the
ancient city of Maenoba, where the
Manganeta necropolis is located, near the
mouth of the Velez River. It was found in
the 1960s and kept in the Palacio de

Beniel basement. Work was being carried
out to classify the amphora, which has
capacity for 30 litres, and was used
during Roman times to transport wine.
The aim is to put it on show at the City
Museum planned for the old San Juan de
Dios Hospital.
It is only now that it has been found to
contain wine, which has been perfectly
preserved thanks to the amphora’s

calcium lid and clay and wood covering.
The councillor reported that amphorae,
like these, with pointed ends, two
handles and a long, narrow neck were
used to take wine from the Roman wine
producers to the homes of aristocrats.
Further studies will be carried out to
discover what type of wine is within the
amphora, and whether it is the typical
sweet wine produced in the area.

watch
N ews
Theatre
unsafe
A REPORT carried out
by the Provincial Fire
Consortium
has
prevented the new
theatre in Torrox,
which cost €7.5 million
to build, from opening,
due to fears about its
safety.

New space
THE old Puntal de
Carchuna-Calahonda
road in Motril has
been renovated and
transformed into an
area where local
residents can enjoy a
walk in the new
gardens.

Sit-in slated
THE
general
coordinator
for
the
Partido Popular in
M l
F
i

August 16 Issue 1415
none of which was
ever started.
Others, which were
started
but
not
completed, are the
turfing of the football
ground and the indoor
sports pavilion.
As these projects
were not finished, the
Junta is asking for
€707,000 back, the
figure estimated for

the work.
Fernandez said it is
unclear
what
the
money was spent on,
although it could have
been to pay the wages
of local employees.
The town hall also
has a debt of €2.7
million with banks and
owes €600,000 to
providers.
Meanwhile,
the
former
mayor
responded that the
PP’s complaint is just a
“tantrum
and
a
smokescreen to hide
their change of opinion
regarding the closure
of the home for the
elderly in the town
which
has
been
ordered
by
the
provincial
government.”
He called upon the
current
mayor
to
resign.

NEWS

3 - 9 January 2013

EWN 9

www.euroweeklynews.com

Couple
guilty
A COUPLE in Jaen has
been sentenced to 20
months in prison and a fine
of €115,000 for killing an
Iberian Lynx with poisoned
bait.
WWF Spain reports that
the critically endangered
species was poisoned on
the couple’s property in
Andujar.
The couple can appeal
the sentence, but if it is
confirmed by a higher court
and they are unable to pay
the fine, they could be sent
to prison.
Spain and the rest of the
EU are investing large
sums of money to attempt
to save the Iberian Lynx
from extinction.
Guardia Civil from the
Nature Protection Service
entered a fenced property
to locate the lynx’s corpse
and gather evidence in
2008.
The couple claimed that
they did not know who had
set the bait.

Axarquía - Málaga East

Abused woman is acquitted
of her husband’s death
A WOMAN, 66, sentenced to
prison for killing her husband,
has been acquitted.
Maria Pilar Marcos, from

Woman
marries
3 men
A WOMAN, 40, was
arrested in Madrid for
being married to three
Nigerians who she had
charged €3,000 each so
they could get Spanish
nationality.
The
investigation
began when police
discovered irregularities
in the request for a
residency permit of a
Nigerian man. He had
married a Spanish

Navarra, northern Spain, was a
victim of domestic violence who
had been abused by her
husband for more than 40 years.

The couple had five children.
In November 2009, during an
argument, the man hit her,
causing her to lose her balance

and fall against a table from
which she picked up a knife.
When he lunged at her, she
held out the knife and injured
his arm. He grabbed her
and pushed her against
the sink, where she
allegedly turned and
stabbed him in the chest
and neck, which led to his
death. She attempted to
save his life and called the
emergency services.
In October 2010, she
was acquitted of manslaughter charges on
grounds of self defence.
However, the Supreme
Court ordered that the
trial be held again, and
she accepted three years
in prison in a deal which
meant she could avoid a
trial.
FALSE: An investigation began as a result of the marriage certificate.
Now, the government
has issued an acquittal
woman and included the
woman
was Nigerian men in other
which means she will not
the marriage certificate registered as having parts of Madrid in 2007
see the inside of a cell.
in his request. However, married two other and 2008.

RETROSPECTIVE Look back on

10 EWN

2012

www.euroweeklynews.com

Visitors cut stays
by almost half
ER
B
M
TE
P
SE
NEWS

13 - 19 September 2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Tough times see more quitting smoking
MORE people in Spain - expats and locals
- are giving up smoking.
The 3 per cent VAT price increase on
tobacco on September 1 had little
effect, for it was compensated by a
reduction in other government taxes on
tobacco.
But Spain’s economic crisis and overall
high unemployment, plus the ban on
smoking in public, have led to more
people quitting. Also, according to the
OCU consumers’ group, price increases in

March also saw many - especially low
income families and the young - quitting.
Health warnings on cigarette packets
are the least effective way of persuading
people not to smoke, experts and others
have agreed.
But while grisly images do little to
dissuade smokers, they help put off
young people from starting, claimed
Joseba Zabala, coordinator for XQNS,
which defends and advances Spain’s antismoking laws.

The biggest reduction in smoking
occurred between 2010 and 2011.
During this period consumption
dropped 17 per cent and 16 million fewer
packets of cigarettes were sold, said Dr
Rodrigo Cordoba Garcia, a lung specialist
and expert in nicotine addiction. He
attributed this to the economic crisis and
the price of cigarettes.
Health warnings on packets account for
only 2 per cent of smokers deciding to
quit, he claimed.

Malaga CF
back in
action

watch
N ews
It’s time to
pay up
VELEZ Town Council will
have to pay €151,941
for land assigned 12
years ago for public
works, following an
Andalucia
Superior
Court of Justice order.

Wages plea
WAGES and expenses
of public officers
should in future be
published on the
Velez Council web
page, the IU political
party has said.

AFTER no game last weekend
because of international callups, Malaga CF return to
league action this weekend

Charity drive
FOOD and toys are

September 13 Issue 1419
Councillor Rocio Ruiz
commented
that
room rates generally
remained stable despite several establishments
having
to
lower
mid-season
rates
to
attract
visitors due to low
occupation.
The tourist office

received
7,144
visitors, more than
doubling last year’s
3,923, following its
relocation to Torre
del Mar town centre
and longer opening
hours.
These will now be
maintained or expanded in future, said
Ruiz.
The main requests
tourists made at the
tourist office were for
town
maps,
and
cultural and activity
information.
Almost 5,000 of the
tourist office visitors
were
Spaniards
mainly from Cordoba
and
Jaen,
while
Germans, British and
French headed the
foreign tourist ranks.

Third time unlucky
for olive grower
A FARMER in Alameda has reported that
olives have been stolen from his
property three times in less than 10
days.
He says he has lost approximately 3.2
tonnes of olives, worth up to €1,700 and
complains
that
because they were
ER
beaten from the
B
M
trees with sticks, the
VE
trees were also
O
N
damaged,
increasing his losses to
almost €2,500.
N ews
Not only that, on a
fourth occasion, he
OLIVE BRANCH: Farmer
found that 55 olive
believes thefts linked to him
trees on his property
had been cut down November 1 Issue 1426 using foreign workers.
with a chainsaw. He
believes this was done by local residents
The Guardia Civil are still looking for
to castigate him for his decision to hire the culprits, although they do not believe
foreign immigrants to work on his land.
that the same people who cut down the
However, the grower defended his trees stole the olives, as the motivation
decision, saying the five immigrants in behind the crimes is different.
his team of 15 harvesters are ‘good
The farmer is now considering
people and hard workers’. He says the patrolling his property at night or hiring
damage to the trees has cost him up to guards to prevent further loss or
€15,000.
damage.
1 - 7 November 2012

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Bye beach

THE nine restaurants
(‘chiringuitos’) on Torre del
Mar’s beach will be forced
to move 200 metres away
from the sand, the
Andalucian Government
has ruled, although Velez
Town Hall is to appeal.

Past caring?

THE 15th century Castle of
Torre del Mar is “in a
dreadful state, abandoned
and neglected, which has
led to serious damp
problems,” local association
Amigos de la Cultura has
reported.

EWN

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Whistling in the dark

Time for new ideas

SPAIN is emerging from the crisis, declared
Minister of Labour Fatima Bañez on Monday.
Twenty-five per cent of the workforce - 5.7
million people - are jobless
and this could rise to 27 per
cent in 2013. It is brave of
Bañez to insist there are
‘indications’ of improvement
but rather than confidence she is more likely to
inspire a response of: “Whatever she’s on, we’ll
have some too.”

DESPITE unexpected regional semi-victories in
Andalucia and Asturias in March, Alfredo Perez
Rubalcaba led the PSOE to defeat in Galicia and the
Basque Region.
Ideological renewal is said to be
the answer, but what the party
needs now is leadership renewal.
It’s time for Carme Chacon to step
forward, but only if Zapatero’s former Defence Minister
opts for federalism and steers clear of Cataluña’s
pretensions of grandeur and independence.

EWN Comment

watch

Coastline
clean-up

A TOTAL of 588 cubic
metres of waste was
collected after the
summer from the 55
kilometres of
coastline from Nerja
to Rincon de la
Victoria, waste
company Elcomare
has revealed.

In memoriam

Preventing
floods

VICTIMS of the Franco
dictatorship in VelezMalaga were remembered
in a flower offering at the

THE 146-kilometrelong sewer and
drainage system in
Velez recently

Axarquía - Málaga East

ER
B
TO
OC
11 - 17 October 2012

TOURISTS to VelezMalaga in July and
August cut the length
of their stays by
almost half this year
compared to 2011.
Average stays by
main summer visitors
were between four
and seven nights,
whereas last year
they averaged seven
to 10 nights.
Even so, overall,
hotels,
hostels,
apartments, campsites
and
rural
housing enjoyed an
80
per
cent
occupancy over the
two months, with
four-star hotels and
apartments the top
choice.
Spelling out the
statistics,
Tourism

3 - 9 January 2013

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Traders demand investment
BUSINESS owners and entrepreneurs in Velez
Malaga are showing their teeth.
The project to build a new shopping area in
Taramillas after a recent agreement has upset

Golf on hold
CONSTRUCTION of a golf
course in Nerja which has
been on hold since 2006 will
be reviewed, the regional
government’s representative
Jose Ruiz promised in
Torrox.

Contract breach
AN agreement will be
sought with contracting
company Floresur by Velez’s
administration after breach
of contract over personnel,
premises and equipment,
Mayor Francisco Delgado

EWN

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Art’s sake
A CONTEMPORARY Arts
Centre will open in VelezMalaga at the beginning of
2013 with an exhibition by
painter Francisco
Hernandez, Mayor Francisco
Delgado has announced.

smaller enterprises.
The town council should take action to avoid
damage to traditional commerce, Entrepreneurs’
Association ACEV has claimed.
“We have nothing against this new project,
provided small businesses get the infrastructure and

equipment first to enable them to compete on an
equal footing,” President Juan Fernandez said. “We
must get rid of empty shop windows with ‘on sale’
signs,” he added.
ACEV is asking for blue parking zones in Velez and
Torre del Mar, pedestrianisation of commercial
streets, improvement of local markets and parking
construction. A plan to create 500 parking spaces at
Maria Zambrano park was presented as a closer
option than the proposed area in Capuchinos.

watch
N ews
Health talks
A HUNDRED women
attended the sixth
conference ‘Women,
Mutual Help and
Mental Health’ last
Friday in Nerja, the
Healthcare Area
Axarquia and Valeriana
Association has
advised.

Moving fair
THIRTY-FIVE
companies attended
the Third Transport Fair
of Axarquia in VelezMalaga last weekend
with an exhibition of
vehicles and devices
over 2,500m2.

E l ti

October 11 Issue 1423

SPRUCING UP: Removing beach debris after the storms.

Clean-up for beaches
WITH ongoing hopes of good weather,
Almuñecar and La Herradura have
carried out beach clean-ups following the
recent storms and flooding.
Beaches most affected have been
cleared of plant debris, and two
specialised boats hired to ensure
stagnant sea water was dealt with.

“We want our coast in the best shape
for bathers,” Beach Councillor Luis
Aragon said.
Meanwhile, beaches in Malaga are
being cleared of debris since the recent
flooding. Plant material at La Malagueta
and El Palo shared the beach with
bathers last Sunday.

British expat sought for child
abduction attempt in Velez
A MAN named as Robert
Edward Bill, a 58-year-old
expatriate from St Asaph
(Wales), is being hunted
by police in Spain.
The resident of Torre
del Mar has been
confirmed
by
the
authorities as the main
suspect in the attempted
abduction of a 12-year-old
girl in Velez-Malaga.
Sources at the Press
Department in the Malaga
National Police’s central
station confirmed to Euro
Weekly News that the
British resident has been
under surveillance since
last week and investigations
are
being
intensified.
“If anyone, be it a
Spanish
or
foreign
resident in the area, has
seen him or knows
anything about where this
man could be now, please
call 091 or 092 and report
it,” police sources said.

ER
B
M
CE
E
D
NEWS

6 - 12 December 2012

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

Bike crash kills
one and injures
another
A YOUTH aged 17 died and
another
18-year-old
was
seriously injured after a
motorbike accident in VelezMalaga’s Avenida Juan Carlos I.

Mayoral excuses
MALAGA Mayor Francisco de
la Torre said: “I can hardly be
lectured on honesty. I travel
Tourist Class,” referring to
accusations his and his wife’s
travel expenses between
2001 and 2007 were paid for
with public funds.

Game off
A BASKETBALL match involving
Torre del Mar team Clinicas
Rincon was delayed due to the
bad condition of Torre del Mar
stadium’s parquet floor

3

Axarquía - Málaga East

Axarquia animal shelters
see 874 strays this year
IN the first 10 months of the year,
874 stray and abandoned animals
were taken to shelters in the
Axarquia area.
Out of these, 129 were later
adopted and 29 were released - all
of them cats - after being neutered.
Many different species and breeds
were cared for including cats,
horses, snakes and seagulls.

However, around 90 per cent were
dogs, according to figures released
by the Community of Axarquia
Municipalities.
In Velez-Malaga alone, 551
animals were removed from the
streets or handed in by their owners
because they were unable to take
care of them. So Velez has been the
area where most animals were

assisted, followed by Torrox (67),
Alcaucin (56), Algarrobo (38) and La
Viñuela (23). “Great savings are
earned by all the municipalities
where this public service is provided
by the community. Town halls would
otherwise not be able to afford the
expenses, and they usually have no
qualified staff for it,” Community
Chairman Oscar Medina said.

watch
News
Poster
proposal
THE 2013 Velez-Malaga
Easter Festival poster
will not feature any local
brotherhood or religious
procession in particular,
but the local residents
instead.

Pay-out
MORE than €165,000
will be paid in
compensation to the
family of a man who
died as a result of
medical negligence in
a private clinic in
Malaga, a court has
ruled.

December 6 Issue 1431
“For all we know, he could
have flown back to
Britain.”
The kidnapping attempt
allegedly occurred in Calle
Huerto Carrion, near
Velez-Malaga
Court
House. Video footage
recorded
by
CCTV
cameras around the
building saw a man trying
to force a girl into his car,
a grey-silver Peugeot 106
with registration 2109BCM. The car had a ‘Baby
on board’ (Bebe a bordo)

sticker in the rear window.
The girl managed to
escape his grip, getting
out of the car through the
opposite
door
and
running away. Neither the
video footage nor the
victim’s statements to the
police were enough to
confirm the attacker’s
identity.
Robert Edward Bill, a
former
teacher,
is
considered a ‘highly
dangerous sex offender’
by the British authorities.
Before moving to
Periana in the summer and later to Torre del Mar
- he was found guilty of
making and possessing
pornographic images of
children by Mold Crown
Court in Wales, the BBC
reported.
He had also been
convicted of attempted
child abduction, as well as
assaulting a seven-yearold girl.

3 - 9 January 2013
www.euroweeklynews.com

Stat of week

14.4 per cent fewer mortgages
were granted in Spain in
October this year than the
same month last year,
amounting to 19,105,
according to the National
Institute of Statistics.

Finance,

business

&

A EURO WEEKLY NEWS 8 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION

EWN

Axarquía - Málaga East

legal
www.ewnbusiness.com

Vineyards need
to box clever
FORGET the Christmas cheer that festive
sales annually bring to Spanish wine
producers globally.
National producers exporting to the
UK may have to reassess their long-term
marketing strategies following a report
that shows just how price sensitive

British consumers are becoming.
The traditional stigma against wine in
a box or with a screw-top cap is
lessening as UK tipplers decide that price
is more important than a cork.
As many as four in 10 wine users
agreed that wine in a box or a pouch is
equally as good quality
as bottled wine.
Just a quarter of wine
users thought of boxed
wine as inferior.
Meanwhile,
screw
tops are even less of an
issue for wine lovers,
with just 17 per cent
less-than-favourable re- claiming not to trust
possession stock and screw cap quality wine.
developers who have
Chris Wisson, of glocal
properties that literally media analysts Mintel,
nobody wishes to buy,” said said: “Recent years
Nick Stuart, a Marbella- have seen many wine
based real estate company drinkers reappraising
director.
their perceptions and
Stuart, of Spanish Hot use of wine in differing
Properties, was also quoted formats and packaging
as adding: “The Belgians, styles.
Dutch,
Russians
and
“Boxed wine has the
Scandinavians are hot on added advantage of the
Marbella as they realise wine keeping longer,
that prices are at their allowing more flexible
lowest and represent usage and encouraging
incredible value for money.” moderate drinking.”

2013 hope for
property firms
WHILE real estate will
remain a difficult business
throughout 2013, some
hopeful signs are being
reported.
Some firms on the Costa
Blanca have in recent
weeks reported encouraging sales, and now a
firm has revealed it feels
2012 could be the last
year for price falls in
Marbella.
“The
only
people
reducing house prices on
the Costa del Sol right now
are the banks with their

Guilty secrets of office parties

PARTY TIME: But just
beware of colleagues.

SIX out of 10 Spanish women say they have
been unfaithful to their partners following a
Christmas work or New Year party.
In a recent study - not just reflecting on
parties this festive season - but also in previous
years, 57 per cent of men admitted seasonal
infidelity, with 42 per cent blaming alcohol.
When it came to the women, 84 per cent said
their actions were due to alcohol.
Also, 94 per cent of men and 98 per cent of
women claimed to have fantasies about
colleagues.
While the figures will surprise many, it should
be noted they were gathered from a website
specialising in extra-marital relationships with
more than 800,000 users in Spain and 16
million throughout the world.

Ignore taxman’s cash
demands at your peril
Q. I HAVE seen several alarming adverts from Spanish
tax consultants and others which state that the Spanish
Tax Agency can now take money directly from the bank
accounts of people who have not paid their taxes. I think
this refers mainly to non-resident property owners and
they refer to December 31 as a deadline. In my own small
building I know several non-resident owners who say they
have owned their property for years and have never paid
any taxes at all. Can you clear this up?
M O (Costa del Sol)
A. YES, we can. First,
You and the
Hacienda, which is properly
known as the Tax Agency, Law in Spain
By David Searl
can indeed take money from
bank accounts. They have
always been able to do this, but only after various
notifications to pay, leading finally to the seizure and
embargo of assets. There is no deadline of December 31,
except that another year has passed.
Nevertheless, we have a real situation here. These
adverts refer to a series of letters which the Tax Agency
is now sending out. There are three in the series. The first
letter simply states that the recipient is a non-resident
property owner and that there is no record of his paying
the non-resident property owner’s tax. The second letter
describes in detail the total tax owed, and the third letter
offers a payment plan.
If a non-resident property owner who has never filed a
form 210, formerly 214, declaring for Non-Resident
Property Owner’s Imputed Income Tax, receives the first
letter, then they have been found out. They will receive
the second letter, and the third letter. If all the letters are
ignored, the Tax Agency will proceed to seize their assets.
At the law office I work with, several owners have come
in after receiving the first letter. Our advice is always to
talk with the Tax Agency and pay what you owe, the
sooner the better.
David will respond to queries but reserves the right to select letters which
will be of interest to the greatest number of readers.
You can also consult David through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in
Fuengirola. ask@lawtaxspain.com or call 952 667 090.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

3 - 9 January 2013
Axarquía - Málaga East

A truly festive fling for John Lewis!
DEPARTMENT store John Lewis
shrugged off the economic crisis
with a record festive period, taking
£157.8 million (€192 million) in the
week up to Christmas, 26.5 per
cent up on a year ago.

£££
BRITONS suffered the biggest fall in
their finances in seven months in
December with a third of
respondents to a survey by Markit
Household Finance saying their

B

ritish
usiness
riefs

economic situation had worsened.

£££
BRITAIN moved up to sixth in the
global economic league table
during 2012, overtaking Brazil. The

value of the UK’s national output
overtook that of Latin America’s
biggest economy following a fall in
the value of the Brazilian currency,
the real, a study by the Centre for
Economic and Business Research
found.

£££
BIG companies paid £21 billion
(€25.6 billion) in corporation tax in
2011/2012, down 21 per cent in 10
years.

Introspective Europe should
look to rest of the world
THE EU summit a few
weeks ago focused mainly
upon the structure and
management of a banking
financial regulator to
control, in the first
instance, the eurozone’s
national banks.
The aim is to form them
into a single entity that
would, in theory,
mean that every
eurozone
bank
Jim
would, at least in
Collins
part, be responMONEY MARKET: UK Government looking to safeguard
sible for the fiscal
Costa Blanca
City of London’s status as European financial hub.
integrity of all. If,
Would China have
say, the Bank of France
As a respected financial more demanding, requirefound itself moving into a correspondent puts it: “Mr ments
of
overseas achieved the supereconomy status it now
danger
zone,
the Noyer appears to be more customers.
if
it
had
regulator would ensure concerned with underIn an article published enjoys
that the entire eurozone mining the City of London in the Daily Telegraph on concentrated its efforts
December 17, Professor towards developing only
would act to protect it.
than anything else.”
A good idea perhaps,
Clearly,
urgent Klaus Schwab, Executive its home market?
Of course not; and yet
but one riddled with measures are required if Chairman of the World
economists
pitfalls. Germany, sus- the eurozone is to be Economic Forum, lauded European
the ‘success’ of the euro, seem to be, even now,
picious of anything that stabilised.
the
EU’s
smells even faintly of
There
is
growing stating that “it has promoting
‘debt mutualisation’ has evidence of economic provided major economic internal market, almost to
exclusion
of
already expressed doubts, recovery in the USA, rewards, and increased the
and this plan, raising China and even in Britain, trade within the eurozone everything else.
The European problem
Berlin’s hackles as it does, where car production and and the more tightly
European lies of course in the drear
appears to reek quite sales worldwide are up 15 integrated
fact that the euro was,
strongly.
per cent on those of a financial markets.”
It makes one wonder if and still is, a political
Britain
is
already year ago, in contrast to
threatening to veto the France, where both these experts ever bother project. It is said that
entire project unless it Renault and Citroén have to see how other ‘nothing is so bad that
political tinkering can’t
economies are doing.
includes inviolate clauses crashed 19 per cent.
Would the USA have make it worse’, and yet,
that will protect the City
Both companies have
of London’s status as made efforts to turn these become one of the richest unfortunately for the
most
powerful ordinary people of the EU,
an independent European figures around, but having and
financial
hub,
thus concentrated for so long nations in the world if it politicians continue to
raising the blood-pressure on the European internal had closed its frontiers, fumble and ‘tweak’,
of
Christian
Noyer, markets, they have failed leaving the separate attempting, more in hope
Governor of the Banque to
recognise
the states to trade only with than expectation, to save
the euro.
de France.
changing, and perhaps one another?

3 - 9 January 2013

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com
Here we are at the beginning of
another year again, a time when many
people reflect on the previous 12
months and look ahead to what they
can improve over the coming year
and beyond.
Do you already have a considered,
strategic wealth management plan in
place? If not, this is a good time to
stop and review your investments,
pensions and tax planning to evaluate
if they are ready for what 2013 may
have to bring and, importantly, if they
are designed with a long-term view to
preserving your wealth and meeting
your objectives.
For the most effective results, and
peace of mind that you have
considered everything and have the
most up to date information to hand,
you should discuss your current
financial planning, objectives and
circumstances with a professional
wealth manager like Blevins Franks
which specialises in providing wealth
management and tax planning advice
to expatriates.
Tax planning
One of the key trends over recent
years - and which is set to continue is tax rises. Taxpayers across Europe,
including here in Spain, are paying
more and more tax. Higher earners
have been hit hardest, though most
people are affected in one way or
another.
Are you sure that your assets are
structured in the most tax efficient
manner for Spain, and that your tax

planning takes all the latest tax
changes into account? You should ask
a locally based tax planning specialist
like Blevins Franks to review your
current arrangements and establish if
you can lower your tax liabilities on
your savings and investments and
protect your wealth from capital taxes
where possible.
At the same time you should
consider what you can do to reduce
the inheritance tax liabilities for your
heirs, both in the UK and here in
Spain. Many people intend to review
their estate planning but never quite
get round to it. Make 2013 the year
when you get it sorted, to ensure you
leave as much of your estate as
possible to your heirs rather than the
taxman.
Probate can be a lengthy and
complicated process, especially when
you have assets in a few different
countries. You may be able to make

life easier and cheaper for your heirs
by using financial arrangements
whereby the assets can be passed
directly to your chosen beneficiaries.
Your wealth manager should advise
you on this.
In tandem with tax rises,
governments across Europe have been
clamping down on tax evasion over
recent years, and we will see much
more of this over the coming years.
Whether you are looking to lower
your personal tax liabilities or those
for your heirs, it is essential to only
use arrangements that are fully
compliant in your country of
residence as well as, in the case of
inheritances, where your heirs are
based.
Here in Spain the new reporting
law comes into effect this year, and
you have to declare all your overseas
assets, from bank accounts to
property, worth over €50,000 by 31st
March. Failure to do so would incur
very costly penalties.
This is part of Spain’s latest efforts
to recoup unpaid tax and prevent
further tax evasion, and is one of the

measures included in its new anti-tax
fraud law.
Savings and investments
Successful investment is about
managing risk versus return and
having a well thought out portfolio
strategy specifically based on your
personal circumstances, needs and
objectives.
Consider the following:
Did you buy your current
investments according to a strategic
overall plan, or have you bought
shares and funds here and there over
the years? If the latter, it is time for an
overall review. Your portfolio may be
riskier than you realise, and riskier
than it need be to meet your
objectives.
Are you confident that you have
adequate diversification and the right
balance between assets to reduce risk?
Is your portfolio specifically
targeted to your needs? For example,
if you require income, do you own
assets which produce a natural
income so that you do not have to
withdraw capital?

Have any of your circumstances
changed over the last year or so? If so
your portfolio may need adjusting
accordingly.
Has your portfolio been reviewed
over the last 12 months to see if it
needs re-balancing to remain in line
with your risk profile? Re-balancing
helps to control risk and tends to
have a positive effect on portfolio
performance.
Finally, going back to tax
planning, how tax efficient are your
current investments? You will not
want to lose any more of your
income and gains to tax than you
have to, but are your savings and
investments tax efficient here in
Spain?
What matters are after tax returns.
Ideally tax planning and investment
planning should be tackled together.
The two are inextricably linked and
you want to find a wealth manager
who can provide both investment
expertise and tax expertise.
Blevins Franks, for example, have
specialised in providing integrated
tax and wealth management to
British expatriate for decades, and
would review all your current
financial planning, along with your
needs and objectives, and
recommend the best way forward
for you for 2013 and beyond.
To keep in touch with the latest
developments in the offshore world,
check out the latest news on our
website www.blevinsfranks.com

CORREOS plans to sell
newspapers from its 2,300
offices throughout Spain.
The Spanish post office
network will sell papers,
office
equipment,
stationery goods and
computer equipment.
The
company
has
presented a plan which is
to be completed within
1,500 days, and aims to
increase the commercial
capacity of its offices and
make them the ‘best
provider of physical and
electronic communication
services on the Spanish
market’.
The measures it plans
include providing postal
services at ‘competitive’
prices and promoting
courier and online services.
The president, Javier
Cuesta, presented the
project before the Ministry
of Public Works and the Tax
Ministry.

17

Axarquía - Málaga East

www.euroweeklynews.com

New plans
for postal
service

EWN

Luxury sector on the rise
THE Spanish luxury sector has
ended 2012 with €4.79 billion in
sales.

This is 15 per cent more than in
2011, when the sector sold 20 per
cent more than the previous year

thanks to many products being sold
internationally.
The upward trend is expected to
continue in 2013, with a
further 15 per cent
improvement.
Forty per cent of the
money made by Spanish
luxury product companies
is thanks to international
sales.
However, 55 per cent of
tourists visiting Spain
purchase
international
brands which can be
acquired here at lower
prices and many can also
get them tax-free.
Meanwhile, according to
consultants Bain and
Company, Spanish clients
buy fewer products but of
better quality.
The favourite products
are those related to food
and beauty.
Most luxury products are
WINNING SMILES: Philip
sold in Barcelona (32 per
and Vanessa.
cent) and Madrid (27 per
cent), followed by Marbella,
the cake to our exceptional
Ibiza
and
Mallorca,
year!”
according to Luxury Spain.

Winning ways for PLC
COSTA DEL SOL based PLC
Advertising and Marketing
Agency Managing Director
Philip
Langley
proudly
holds the Expatriate Agency
of the Year Award he
received at the Euro Weekly
News (EWN) Annual Party
held in Mijas.
Also pictured is Senior
Account Director Vanessa
Alvarez.
After being presented with
the award by EWN Publishers
Michel and Steven Euesden,
Philip commented: “We work
hard year round to meet
clients’ objectives, which
means much planning, a high
level of creativity and true
dedication, so to win this
against
such
strong
competition is the cherry on

GB

LOBAL
IZ

Amazon tops
AMAZON has been voted
the best US website for
online shopping for the
eighth year running.

Ford invests
FORD plans to invest more
than $773 million (€583
million) on new equipment
and updated facilities in six
factories in the United
States as part of a plan to
invest $6.2 billion (€4.67
billion) in US plants by 2015.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

18

EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com

3 - 9 January 2013
Axarquía - Málaga East

Hard work trying to buy local
in a Chinese dominated world
IN our house over the last
month we set ourselves a
challenge to try and buy
Spanish, or European, if
possible. Boy, has it been
hard!
First off we needed to
buy a fan heater for the
bathroom. Every model in
our price range came from
China. And in the end we
couldn’t stand shivering in
the shower any longer and
settled on a Chinese
heater.
Next was a form of
heating for the sittingroom. We wanted a gas
heater and once again
nearly every one was
made in the People’s
Republic of China. Only by
chance on the way to the
cashier did we spot a
heater made in Italy. It
was
a
little
more
expensive, but the delight
of finding something made

TOO EXPENSIVE:
Locally made
wooden toys
to die for.
in
Europe was
enough to make us buy it.
Next were Christmas
presents. My husband
needed a leather messenger bag for his iPad and
bits and bobs because he
cycles. Lots of nice and
reasonably priced bags are

available online, but what
about in Spain? Not a
chance!
Numerous shops I
entered could supply a
bag, but at triple the cost
of those online.
Also, while the leather

was nice, for some reason
the bags couldn’t be made
with the same secure zipup inside pockets and
quality lining. Not wanting
to make it any easier for
pickpockets, I was forced

to buy online, rather than
locally.
Then came the task of
buying Christmas toys for
all the kids in the family.
The biggest problem is
that anything made locally
is much more expensive
than what’s available
online.
A lovely toyshop near us
sells
beautiful,
oldfashioned toys including
quality picnic baskets for
little girls and lovely,
handmade wooden toys.
They are to die for, but so
are the prices. And while I
would love to support this
shop, I just can’t afford to.
So once again the toys
came from Amazon and
after opening all the
packages, guess what?
Made in China!
At least the food we ate
over Christmas was locally
sourced.

Seafood prices soared
as Christmas neared
THE price of seafood
products rose sharply
over
the
Christmas
period.
Products
including
eels, sea bream and
oysters rose as much as
30 per cent, according to
the User and Consumer
Organisation, OCU.
The report was based
on prices at Alcampo,
Carrefour,
Eroski,
Mercadona, municipal
markets and other stores

in Madrid and Barcelona
in
November,
early
December
and
on
December 21.
It showed that to
avoid
high
prices,
products should ideally
be purchased 15 days
before the start of the
Christmas period.
Baby eels cost €1,660
per kilo in November,
whereas by the end of
December they had risen
to €1,775, while sea

bream rose from €30.12
per kilo to €38.81 and
oysters from €24.53 for
a dozen to €31.48.
Other fish, including
bass and hake also rose
considerably, as did
suckling
lamb,
barnacles, langoustines,
purple cabbage and
pullets.
The price of clams,
beef, pineapple and
Iberian ham fell over
Christmas.

B

USINESS
IZ

Pay more
MERCADONA will pay
€0.01 per litre more to
the 2,000 plus Spanish
farmers who supply their
stores with milk.

Bank deal
BANCO SANTANDER
has sold the Canalejas
Complex where its
headquarters were
located in Madrid to
the
Villar
Mir
construction group
for €215 million.

Salary rise
THE Spanish Ministry of
Employment
has
proposed increasing the
minimum salary by 0.6
per cent in 2013 to
€645.3.

Share surge
STOCKS of Spain’s major
cosmetic
surgery
companies, Corporacion
Dermoestetica, surged
by 16 per cent after
announcing
it
was
leaving
the
stock
exchange.

Tourism up
SPAIN received more
than
55
million
foreign
tourists
between January and
November
2012,
which was 2.9 per
cent more than for
the same period in
2011.

Financial crisis puts golf in a bunker...
THE financial crisis is hitting
Spanish golf hard, with the number
of PGA professional tournaments
plummeting to just the Spanish
Open.
In 2011, Spain hosted seven
European Tour tournaments.
SEAFOOD DISHES: Prices of fresh fish shot up.

But now in deep recession, putting
up enough prize money to attract
golf’s big names is an unaffordable
luxury, said Javier Gervas, CEO of
MatchGolf, which promoted the
former Iberdrola and Castello
European Tour events.

Tourist
boards
that
once
bankrolled
tournaments
and
companies
that
provided
sponsorship either no longer have
the money to do so or do not want
to be seen spending it on golf when
Spaniards are so hard up, he added.

3 - 9 January 2013

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

W EEKLY

21

Axarquía - Málaga East

ROUND - UP OF REGULAR AND OCCASIONAL TOPICS

E XPAT EXTRA

LETTERS
LEAPY
HEALTH & BEAUTY

FOOD
TIME OUT
HOMES & GARDENS

PETS
TV

Driving to an unsure conclusion...

YET again I have been rejected.
After my fantasy of a romantic
Christmas Day liaison had been
firmly dashed by Crispin, I
excitedly asked him to put aside
New Year’s Eve for just him and
me. But he turned me down.
While I accepted him spending
Christmas with his parents,

COMMENT
Splendid
isolation

As I see it...
Ana Jefferson-Smith takes an irreverent look at life as a
singleton expat in Spain
sharing the entire festive period
with family seemed far-fetched
seeing as from what I had

gathered recently he is a social
butterfly throughout more normal
times. If he was as committed to

‘us’ as I am, surely he would have
made more effort to see me and
spend time with me.
Christmas and New Year have
always been a time for loved
ones... and in my book I wanted
to be among his loved ones on
New Year’s Eve, and not once
more left on the touchline with

MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE
EWN now printed on recycled newsprint

CATALUÑA President Artur
Mas is obsessed with going
ahead
with
his
independence plans. If
every Catalan shared this
obsession he would have
won the November regional
elections with an overall
majority. Instead he and
the CiU party lost seats.
There is a message here,
but Mas either does not
hear it or prefers to ignore
it. Instead of heeding the
electorate he is listening to
a delirious inner voice.

A healthy
attitude
THE Constitutional Tribunal
(TC) validated the Basque
Region’s refusal to cancel
illegal immigrants’ health
cards.
Humanitarian motives
apart, assuring them of
healthcare will help check
the
spread
of
the
contagious and infectious
diseases that immigrants
often bring with them, said
the TC. Health Minister Ana
Mato does not see it this
way and intends to appeal,
demonstrating yet again
that politicians only accept
verdicts that they dictate
themselves.

Island vanishes into thin air
A
SOUTH
PACIFIC
island, shown on marine
charts and world maps
as well as on Google
Earth and Google Maps
for at least a decade
does
not
exist.
Australian
scientists
went to inspect the
supposedly sizeable strip
of land midway between
Australia
and
New
Caledonia but found
only ocean.
***
CHINA’s rich are paying
up
to
£200,000
(€245,000) for rare

JUST FANCY THAT...
bottles of whisky at The
Johnnie Walker House
that has opened in
Tiananmen Square in
Beijing.
***
AN American dental
assistant - fired for
threatening her boss’s
marriage after his wife
complained about his
infatuation for her - has
lost her discrimination
lawsuit.

***
US

PLANE engineers have
been using sacks of
potatoes as stand-ins for
passengers while working to eliminate in-flight
wireless signal weak
spots as their water
content and chemistry
absorb and reflect radio
wave signals much the
same way as the human
body does.
TWO

***
South Africans

have been arrested for
‘borrowing’ a corpse and
creating a fake woman in
order to complete a
$11,000 (€8,300) life
insurance scam payout.
***
RANDI ZUCKERBERG,
the sister of Facebook
co-founder Mark, has
tripped up on the social
network’s
privacy
settings, displaying a
family photo showing
Mark in a kitchen with
family members to the
public, and not as
intended just for friends.

room only for his parents.
Anyway, having sat alone at
home on Christmas Day, to cheer
myself up, I decided to go out
with the girls on New Year’s Eve,
many of them returning to the
coast for the Christmas period,
and many of whom I had partly
neglected after Crispin first
bounced into my life.
I wanted to take my
wandering mind off him and
enjoy myself. That’s what
New Year’s Eve is all about.
So in true Marbella style,
five of us donned our
sparkliest frocks, skyscraper
Louboutins, longest lashes,
and drank Champagne.
Some of my favourite
moments have been spent
with my girlfriends.
There was the night we all
watched British rap-star
Tinie Tempah in a Puerto
Banus club and then tried to
sneak into his VIP area.
And the countless hours
gossiping about our latest
male encounters, giggling
about our conquests.
Plus, of course, the
hopping from Louis Vuitton
to Dior, and from Hermes to
D&G,
overladen
with
shopping bags filled with the
latest styles and planning
when next to show them off.
Meeting Crispin was
another highlight, although
New Year’s Eve wasn’t the
time to reflect on that.
Instead
as
the
celebrations wore on, we all
drunkenly stumbled the
night away, until the final
destination brought a sense
of familiarity over me.
For there, in the car park,
was Crispin’s Porsche.
If he was supposedly
spending the evening with
his family, why was his car in
Puerto Banus?
My heart raced as I
sheepishly entered the
discotheque, unsure of what
I would encounter.
Limited space means...
more anon.

Airport helper
far from
being a lady
MY wife and I recently had to meet
elderly neighbours returning to
Spain from the UK.
Due to the husband’s difficulty in
walking distances, he requested
airport wheelchair assistance when
booking his flight.
The couple were last off the
plane, by which time an airport
employee was waiting impatiently
with a wheelchair.
Once the man sat in the
wheelchair he was quickly whisked
away, with his wife, also in her 70s,
left with both her husband’s and her
own hand luggage to manage.
She soon lost sight of them and
was left to guess where they had
gone.
By the time she caught up, the
wheelchair helper was hassling my
wife and I to find out where we
were parked, saying: “My shift
finished three minutes ago. I want
to get home.”
She seemed determined to make
us feel guilty, and while en route to
our vehicle continued to make rude
and snide comments.
N J, Mijas Costa
(Malaga)

Ungodly change!
EACH year I make an effort to go to
church with my wife at Easter and
Christmas.
After checking on the Christmas
Day service at La Cala Church and
noting in advance outside on a
board on December 22nd that the
service was scheduled for 1pm, we
arrived at around 12.45pm for the
service, but discovered the church
was locked.
On re-checking the notice board,
it was evident the original timing of
1pm had been crossed out and
changed to noon.
Instead, the 1pm service was
indicated as being at Calahonda,
and while we had a car and
managed to re-route, not all
churchgoers would have been in the
same position.
Also, from the number of people
arriving at the Calahonda service
midway through, I suspect many
others found themselves scrabbling
around.
Xmas Worshipper, El Faro
(Malaga)

3 - 9 January 2013
Axarquía - Málaga East
I was operated on at the Hospital
Costa del Sol (Marbella) where I
was the recipient of a new knee.
I can only say the treatment I
received and am still receiving by
way of follow-up has been fantastic.
Maybe it is a language problem as
a large number of English people
have no Spanish. I am by no means
fluent but every single person I
have seen has been helpful and
efficient.
Elizabeth Church, Estepona
(Malaga)

Pension right

“Christmas morning I went for a walk at the Refugio de Juanar
above Marbella. I took this snap. Shame I didn’t wait longer as
the sun came out just as I got back home!”

WHEN YOU WRITE

All letters, whether by email or
post, should carry the writer’s
postal address, NIE and contact
number though only the name and
town will be published.
Letters may also be edited.
Readers who have missed earlier
correspondence can see all letters
posted on:

www.euroweeklynews.com

Religious woe
I MAKE a point of lighting a candle in
church over Christmas.
Imagine my disappointment when,
on a visit to Malaga two days
beforehand, I was barred from
entering the cathedral unless I paid
the full tour entrance fee.
Having toured the cathedral in the
summer - a very impressive building
- I had only a desire to enter, light a
candle, and briefly pray, but an
official said this was not possible.
Entrance was only for visitors who
paid the full price of a ticket.
M Haddon,Torremolinos (Malaga)

Help yourself
WE all have a duty to look after
ourselves and it is naive to put
blame on the medical profession
when things go wrong, (Letters
Issue 1433).
If a person spends years over-

indulging with the wrong food and
drink, and sits for hours every day,
the body is bound to start breaking
down somewhere. Knee joints,
vertebrae, shoulders, they all need
to be kept moving and, apart from
housework, walking is one of the
best exercises a person can do.
S P Kelly, Los Gallardos
(Almeria)

Rubbish issue
I FEEL that as a boat owner I must
comment on your article (Rubbish
washed up at Javea, Issue 1433
EWN Costa Blanca North).
I have always found that boaters
are
amongst
the
most
environmentally-conscious people as
we get troubled enough by fouled
propellers and blocked water intakes
without adding to the problem.
Tidal streams and winds bring
ashore rubbish that is discarded
worldwide by the general public.
Plastic is the world’s biggest
offender; an island of rubbish known
as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’
more than three miles deep and six
times the size of England is already
established in the Pacific Ocean.
Ted Milsom (by email)

Hospital thanks
IN reply to the letter (Issue 1433)
about healthcare problems. In June

RE UK winter fuel payments (Issue
1432), not every pensioner lives in
Malaga.
I personally have lived several
places in Spain and love it all, but
believe me it is very, very cold in
winter North of Granada.
I worked from the age of 14 to 62
and paid for my pension, such as it
is. If the powers-that-be paid a
decent pension then they wouldn’t
have to give a winter allowance. No
matter where I choose to live, I am
entitled to the pension I paid for.
Jean Ray, Turre (Almeria)

Cash raised
AS we start a new year I would like
to update readers as to what ‘HELP’
achieved in 2012.
We have bought 1,800 litres of
milk which is being distributed to 60
needy families in Almoradi (Vega
Baja, Alicante). And 35 San Miguel
families are being given a box of
fruit and vegetables, a box of
toiletries and washing products, a
box of dry goods and meat or fish
vouchers.
We have also contributed half the
cost of school books to Almoradi
and San Miguel underprivileged
children and made a donation of
equipment to ‘Reach Out’ charity in
Torrevieja.
On top of that more than €500
was raised from a raffle and
donations at a recent event at
Portico Mar with thanks to many for
their donations to the raffle and all
the participants and volunteers.
Ron (President) HELP Vega Baja
(Alicante)

Editor’s note: HELP is a
charity that gives assistance on
a wide range of subjects from
paperwork to hospital visits in
the Costa Blanca area around
Torrevieja.

The views expressed and opinions given in Letters are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information, errors,
omissions or statements, and reject claims arising out of any action that a company or individual may take on the basis of information contained therein.

OPINION & COMMENT

24 EWN

3 - 9 January 2013

www.euroweeklynews.com

A

Sad cults get
it wrong again
and again
demise of the planet (and
I’ve bought a ticket for El
Gordo. There’s optimism
for you!).
Hundreds of thousands
across the world will have
woken up in the morning,
firmly convinced it would
be their last day on earth.
Is that depressing or what?
Actually I don’t find it all
that funny. These cults
often have truly disastrous
ends.
Among others, Wacko,
Hale Bopp and the Jones
cults resulted in mass
murder and suicides.
How do vast numbers of
the human race allow
themselves to become
brainwashed by these
people, who seem to pluck

Resolutions
go digital

LEAPY LEE
SAYS IT
OTHERS THINK IT
some strange idea out of
thin air and turn it into a
belief that makes people
often hand over all their
worldly possessions and
blindly follow them, often
literally to the death?
I wish I knew. I’d love to
be able to spin a story that
made people delighted to
give me all their readies.
Don’t worry, I’m working on
it. I’ve actually had some
strange premonitions about

LOONY: Doomsday merchants.

the next leap year.
Who better to save you all
from disaster than yours
truly in my namesake year?
All donations and worldly
goods gratefully received.
Get ready for the deluge,
chaps! Dream on, Leapy.
Hopefully, you’re all
perusing this in the relative
safety of a planet still in one
piece. Let’s hope this year
is a better one for all.
Somehow I’m afraid I
doubt it. Never mind.

Positive thinking is what
we need. Feel secure in the
knowledge that a whole
new bunch of X Factor
contestants are out there
just waiting to entertain
you. Makes it all seem
worthwhile.
Amazin’, ennit?

Happy New Year to all
Keep the Faith
Love Leapy
Leapylee2002@gmail.com

NEARLY half of New
Year’s resolutions are
about setting healthrelated goals, and there
are plenty of apps to
help people achieve
them. iPhone applications ‘5K Runner’
helps people to run
five kilometres comfortably in eight
weeks, and ‘Fooducate’ helps shoppers make healthier
purchases by scanning barcodes and
getting an insight
into how healthy the
product is.

END COLUMN

T the time of writing,
thousands of people
will be wondering
why I’m even bothering!
I know, I know, so what’s
new about that? Cheeky!
I’m actually talking about
the people who believe the
world will come to an end
tomorrow.
Due to the yuletide
holidays
all
column
scribblers need to present
their copy at an earlier
date. This means tomorrow
will be December 21, the
day literally hundreds of
thousands of supposedly
sane human beings will
tuck their heads between
their legs and kiss the world
goodbye. If you’re reading
this, of course, then yet
another loony load of sad
idiots will all be wondering
what actually didn’t hit
them? (If you’re not…!)
Seriously, what is wrong
with these people?
This latest bunch are the
believers of the Mayan
calendar, which has been in
existence for thousands of
years and goes out of print
permanently tomorrow,
presumably along with the

Axarquía - Málaga East

Dating flop
A MASS dating event
South
Korea’s
‘Battle of the Singles’
- organised on Facebook fizzled out with
thousands of lovelorn
men turning up, but
very few women.
More than 36,000
people signed up.

26

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

3 - 9 January 2013

Visit www.ewnlifestyle.com for more reading

Axarquía - Málaga East

Sleeping pills
not effective?
RESEARCHERS in the UK and the USA are
doubting the effectiveness of sleeping pills,
saying insomniacs may get more help from
psychological treatments.
They carried out a study using sleeping pills
and another dummy drug which had no
medical benefits for helping sleeplessness.
The research found that the placebo effect
produced around 50 per cent of the benefits,
with the active ingredient in the sleeping pills
making up the rest.
They conclude that psychological treatment
would be just as beneficial for sufferers and
would not have any of the side-effects related
to sleeping pills such as memory loss and
balance problems.

BROTHERS: The more
the better.

EASY TEST: New eye scan helps to evaluate progression of MS.

MS eye scan test
AN easy eye test can help
measure
how
fast

multiple sclerosis (MS) is
progressing.
Researchers performed
scans on 164 MS patients
which measured the
thickness of the lining at
the back of the eye. They
found that patients with
thinning of the retina had
both earlier and more
active forms of the
disease.
MS affects nerves in the
brain and spinal cord,
causing problems with

muscle
movement,
balance and vision. Many
sufferers have periods
where symptoms are
mild, followed by flareups, making monitoring
of the disease difficult for
doctors.
It is hoped this new
scan, called Optical
Coherence Tomography
(OCT) could be helpful
in
evaluating
the
progression
of
the
condition.

Lots of
brothers
means
fertility
WANTING a large
family? Well, when
searching for your
perfect baby-making
mate, first count the
number of brothers
he has.
Scientists say the
greater the number of
male siblings your
partner has, the more
fertile he is likely to
be.
The findings were
published in the Asian
Journal of Andrology.

Unhealthy snacks
linked to Facebook
USING Facebook could make you more likely to eat
unhealthy snacks.
That’s the finding by researchers from Columbia
University and the University of Pittsburgh (USA)
who say that regular contact with friends on the
social network site left users with higher levels of
self-esteem but lower levels of self-control. They
found that people were more likely to snack on
unhealthy food once they had logged off,
particularly if they had been chatting with
close friends.
The team used
five experiments
on the behaviour
of
Facebook
users to see how
it affected them
when
they
were
offline.
The studies suggested
there was a link
between the use of
the website and poor
self-control
over
what they ate and
how much money
they
spent,
particularly
when
socialising with close
SELF-CONTROL: Poor after using social network site. friends.

3 - 9 January 2013

EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

27

Axarquía - Málaga East

Expat associations
share their padron
experience
THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has contacted some of the
many expatriates’ associations in Spain, in order to know
first-hand their opinions and experiences about the
municipal register (padron). Since most of those who
replied are established residents in Spain, we expect their
thoughts will be of great help for newcomers.
1) What is your personal experience with the
padron?
It is very easy to register with the padron in Coin. There
was some confusion as to whether you had to re-register
every now and then. We have since found out that it is
done every two years; or if you move or if you need to
make some major purchase such as a house or car. It is a
matter of taking your passport, house deeds if you have
them and residence certificate and all is completed in the
town hall’s front office, generally in a matter of minutes.

Life in
Spain

- Jo Taylor, Chairman, The
Royal British Legion, Coin
(Malaga).
2) Why did you register?
A weekly focus aimed
We had made every effort to
at keeping expatriate readers
become as ‘legal’ as possible once
informed on various aspects of
we had decided to live here in
Life in Spain
Spain. Registration was a simple
process.
By Raul Candela
- Michael Rushbrook, The
Royal British Legion, El Campello
(Alicante).
Civic duty. It enables the town hall to qualify for more
money for local services.
- Richard Rogers, Public Relations Officer, The Royal
British Legion, Marbella (Malaga).

Last minute presents?
JUST because Santa has
been it doesn’t mean there
are no toys left to buy.
The Spanish traditionally
give gifts on Three Kings
Day (Epiphany), so most
Spanish families will be
gathering together on
Sunday.
Although the first rule for
any good present-buyer is
to sort it out in advance,
some of us still have a
nephew or a cousin for
whom we still have to buy a
last minute present.
So, what to buy?
In Alicante, there is the
Toy Technological Institute
(AIJU), a non-governmental foundation that has
given expert guidance on
toys since 1985.
It runs tests on toys
before they are marketed
by their manufacturers to
make sure they meet all
safety measures required
by EU laws.
AIJU’s staff includes
experts on child education
and psychology.

Source: shutterstock.

A rough guide for
toy buyers:

PLAYTIME: Enjoy the look on his face.
During the year more
than 15,000 children visit
its headquarters to have a
day-long play. Also, more
than 7,000 volunteer
families co-operate with the
institute.
The AIJU publishes a free
annual guide reporting on a
wide selection of toys, 140
this year.
All of them have passed
their quality and safety
tests, many manufactured
by Spanish companies.

Q AND A

QUESTION: MY wife and I obtained a padron
certificate each for residence purposes in
November 2010. We had registered with the
padron when we purchased our property in
October 2005 using our NIE. Do we require to

THE following 10 tips are based on
suggestions by the Spanish toy store
chain Imaginarium.
1. Buy the toy as soon as possible.
Otherwise, the toy you thought of may
be sold out.
2. Make a list. It helps with
planning expenses and making sure
everyone is remembered.
3. Buy quality and safety. Look for
quality seals and recommended ages
on the box.
4. Go with the child, if possible. It is
the best way to get what they want.
5. Look for Special Discount days. Ask
the store staff if any sales are coming up.
6. Tell the rest of the family which toy
you bought. It avoids repetition.
7. Buy online. It can save a lot of time.
But check delivery is not too slow.
8. Buy educational toys.
9. Keep the receipt and check the
store is able to replace the toy or refund
the money.
10. Ask for advice. Staff at the toy
stores can help you decide.

The AIJU also carries
out extensive market
research to find out the
main trends.
Children like toys
they can play with
anywhere; they also
like unexpected features to surprise them.
Toys
based
on
technology gadgets are
popular. Handicrafts
and toys like doctor
kits, sewing, cooking, and
DIY are also in fashion.

Read AIJU 2013 guide at:
www.guiadeljuguete.com.

re-register and if so at what period of time?
Answer: You may indeed need to confirm your
registration. Our advice is that you get in touch with your
town hall’s padron office or foreign residents department
to confirm that. As for the period of time, confirmation is

GOOD ADVICE: The Royal British Legion is one of
the expat associations encouraging foreigners to
sign on the padron.
3) How has it helped you being in the ‘padron’?
By being able to vote.
- Frederick Wallis, Vice president of the International
Theatre Studio, San Pedro de Alcantara (Malaga).
Provides eligibility for: healthcare, car purchase,
transfer of English to Spanish driving licences, establishing
‘domestic’ and ‘fiscal’ residency, registering for town hall
Spanish language lessons, membership of our association,
Imserso (Spanish Government subsidised holidays).
- Michael and Penelope Elliott, Pensioners Association,
Los Montesinos (Alicante).
I can cast my vote at certain elections, I have access to
a doctor when I need to and if we have wildfires, there are
firemen to help us. I am also ensuring my future – as
should my health deteriorate and I need help – being on
the padron ensures that I can at least apply.
- Margery Taylor, Chairman, The Royal British Legion,
Mijas (Malaga).
4) Where did you get the information about the
‘padron’ from?
The original information came from the town hall but we
are glad to see that the Euro Weekly is promoting the
padron.
- Mary Le Corney, District Secretary The Royal British
Legion, Torremolinos (Malaga).
Our information comes in the main from the media, such
as the Euro Weekly.
- Ken Davis, Chairman, The Royal British Legion,
Zurgena (Almeria).
5) Does your association co-operate in any way to
promote the ‘padron’ among foreign residents?
How?
We give frequent reminders to our members to ensure
they and their neighbours are registered on the padron, as
this enables the local council to obtain maximum benefits
from central and regional government as well as to make
purchases or register for a SIP card.
- Helen Tudor, Secretary Neighbourhood Watch, Vecinos
Cooperando, Rojales (Alicante).
We at the RBL strongly recommend that all should
register themselves on their local padron and have given
the reasons why. I would like to say there are still many
expats who have been here for many years and still not
registered.
- Bill Raford, The Royal British Legion, Algarrobo Costa
(Malaga).
done every five years if you are EU residents and
registered with your Certificate of Residence. But if you
are non-EU residents, then it is every two years. For EU
non-residents who used their passport, it is also two
years.

Send your questions to: raul@euroweeklynews.com

28

FOOD

EWN

3 - 9 January 2013

www.euroweeklynews.com

Axarquía - Málaga East

Girls enjoy superior taste buds
A STUDY on 8,900 schoolchildren in
Denmark has found that girls have a better
sense of taste than boys.
The findings showed that girls
recognised taste much better than their
male counterparts, and boys need 10 per
cent more sourness and 20 per cent more
sweetness to be able to recognise the
taste of something. Also, boys have a

sweeter tooth than girls.
Carried out by the Danish Science
Communication and The Faculty of Life
Sciences, each child was supplied with a kit
of taster samples.
The tests were designed to recognise the
ability of the children to discover sweet and
sour tastes and to find out what they prefer
when each sensation varied in intensity.

The magic
of apples
APPLES have more uses
than
for
simply
consumption. Store cakes
with half of an apple and
it will retain its moisture.
The same with chicken,
when cooking one whole,
stuff it with an apple to
keep it moist. If brown
sugar goes hard in the
larder, place an apple
wedge in the bag, tightly
sealed, and a day or so
later, the sugar will be
soft once more.
They also have the ability
to ripen tomatoes and soak
up excess salt in a stew simply add apple wedges
for 10 minutes.

EXCLUSIVE: The cheese could soon be on sale at Harrods.

Donkey cheese is
most expensive

THE most expensive cheese in the world
comes from the Serbian donkey.
The average dairy cow can produce
more milk in six weeks than the entire
farm of 130 donkeys, outside of
Belgrade, Serbia, can produce in a year
and 25 litres of donkey milk are needed

to make one kilo of cheese. This could
account for its price tag of £1,000
(€1,219) a kilo.
The cheese is not commercially
produced at present, but there are
hopes it could soon be on the shelves of
Harrods department store.

World’s
largest
pizza
FIVE chefs in Italy
have
baked
the
world’s largest pizza.
The world-record
pizza is a 130-foot
wide margherita and
was created in Rome.
The dough was
baked in over 5,000
separate batches. It
was then covered
with 19,800 pounds
of mozzarella and
8,800 pounds of
tomato sauce.
The pizza smashed
the previous world
record set in 1990 in
South Africa which
measured 122 feet in
diameter.
Slices of the pizza
were donated to local
food
shelters
in
Rome.

BIG PIZZA PIE: Anyone for a slice?

30 EWN

3 - 9 January 2013

www.euroweeklynews.com

For solutions: http://www.euroweeklynews.com/puzzle-answers.html

Axarquía - Málaga East

Time Out
Natural way to stop smoking

Mystery and suspense, comedy
When 22-year-old drug dealer
Chris (Hirsch) has his stash of
drugs stolen from him by his
mother, he has to come up with $6,000 quick, or
he’s dead. Desperate, he goes to see his father,
Ansel (Hayden Church), and lays out the plan.
Chris’s mother has a life insurance policy. Enter
Detective ‘Killer’ Joe Cooper, a hired hit man,
who will get rid of her - for an upfront fee - that
Chris and Ansel can’t pay. Just as Joe is about to
leave, he spots Dottie (Temple), Chris’s innocent
younger sister. Joe makes Chris an offer, he’ll
keep Dottie as sexual collateral until the money
is collected and his fee can be paid.
1h43 Director: William Friedkin Starring:
Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno
Temple, Thomas Haden Church

CAPRICORN
(December 22 - January 20)
A loss of patience with a situation
shows this week but is not to your
advantage. Whatever you feel, be subtle in your
approach. Try to see your position clearly and
the result will be that you realise you have
more control than you thought.

AQUARIUS
(January 21 - February 19)
A feeling that you should totally commit
yourself to something or someone this
week should be avoided. You will come up
against a brick wall if a situation is forced. Time
is all that is required to see things change for
the better.

BOOKS
books@euroweeklynews.com

AN
English
international
author who recently became a
resident of Benalmadena on the
Costa del Sol has released her
first book.
Shirley Amy’s The Winning
Way to Quit Smoking uses a
revolutionary protocol derived
from a natural and holistic
foundation.

IF ITʼS YOUR
BIRTHDAY THIS
WEEK:
The desire to find
an ideal mate brings
an edge to the
months ahead. It is
almost as though you
are daring fate to
tempt you.

Y our
S tars

learn the magic word: no. Know your limits and
stick to them.

PISCES
(February 20 - March 20)

ARIES
(March 21 - April 20)

There may not be enough time to do
everything you want, so why can't you
just reorganise your life so there is?
Not as easy as it sounds, Pisces, unless you

It incorporates health
science, and embraces
complementary
and
nutritional
therapy
with an accent on
biological regulation
and the intrinsic healing of the
mind, body and soul.
It is designed to slowly and

Nacho Duato, born
January 8, 1957. He is a
Spanish modern ballet
dancer and choreographer. He was the
artistic director of the National Spanish
Dance Company from 1990 to 2010. He
is currently the artistic director of the
ballet at Moscowʼs Mikhailovsky Theatre.

56

with the physical activities. Set out to become
more active, socially, and maximise on
relaxation. you?

TAURUS
(April 21 - May 21)

Extra pressures at work leave you
feeling less than energetic. Check
on your health and don't go overboard

systematically
change smokers
into
nonsmokers
in
around
six
months without
the need for
nicotine
replacement
products
and
anti-smoking
drugs, which is
perfect for all those New Year
resolutions.

Although health should be good,
energy may be a little low. A bit of a
mystery surrounds a close friend and your
opinion may be sought. Hold fire until all the
facts are known and you are sure a person
has been honest with you because someone
may try to keep you in the dark to get the
right answer. .

SU DOKU

CANCER
(June 22 - July 23)
The temptation to run round like a
headless chicken is strong this week.
There seem to be so many demands on your
time that things become confusing. Be sure
you are getting enough rest because this time
of the year can be fraught for you.

HOW TO PLAY Fill the grid so that every row,
every column and every 3X3 box contains the
digits 1-9. There’s no maths involved. You solve
the puzzle with reasoning and logic.

LEO
(July 24 - August 23)

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

A situation could become
complicated if you do not plan
ahead. With a little thought and
planning, matters can be kept simple which is
always desirable. Be choosy about the
company you keep because a bad character
could taint by association.

VIRGO
(August 24 - September 23)
A lost cause tries to demand your
attention, but you must try to see the
situation for what it is. Sentimentality should
not come into business or be allowed to
upset your home life.

1. Which Norwegian explorer was the first to traverse
the Northwest Passage and, in 1911, the first to reach
the South Pole?
2. Who, in February 1979, became the first soccer
player to be transferred within the UK for a fee of over
£1,000,000?
3. According to the Guinness Book of Hit Singles, what
was the title of the Rolling Stones’ first British number
one hit single?
4. The Norwegian diplomat Trygve Lie was the first
person to hold which position?
5. Which sporting first occurred at the Iffley Road
Track, Oxford, on May 6, 1954?
6. According to the Bible (John 20 and Mark 16:9), who
was the first to see Jesus after his Resurrection?
7. Which famous horse race, first (officially) run in
1839, was won by Lottery ridden by Jem Mason?
8. What was the name of the world’s first orbiting
satellite, which was launched by the USSR in October
1957?
9. What was the name of the first First Minister of
Scotland at the head of the Labour-Liberal Democrat
coalition in 1999?
10. In which south coast resort was Britain’s first nudist
beach established in August 1979?

How many
English
words of
four letters
or more can
you make
from the
nine letters
in our
Nonagram
puzzle? Each
letter may
be used only
once (unless
the letter
appears
twice). Each
word MUST
CONTAIN
THE CENTRE
LETTER (in
this case G)
and there
must be AT
LEAST ONE
NINE
LETTER
WORD.
Plurals,
vulgarities or
proper
nouns are
not allowed.

Word ladder

LIBRA
(September 24 - October 23)

LOTTERY

UK NATIONAL
UK
LOTTERY
THUNDERBALL
Saturday December 29

8

6

Saturday December 29

12

IRISH LOTTO

EURO MILLIONS

Saturday December 29

Friday December 28

8

1

17
24

30

31

37

48

40

25

15

35
36

38

BONUS BALL

THUNDERBALL

36

12

LA PRIMITIVA

EL GORDO DE
LA PRIMITIVA

Saturday December 29

Sunday December 30

2

3

1

7

10

11

21

38

47

2

26

27
29

44

BONUS BALL

32

49
LUCKY STARS

3

5

19
REINTEGRO

12

8

REINTEGRO

7

COAT

SCORPIO
(October 24 - November 22)
Are you suffering from winter blues?
Although it is a common feeling at
this time of the year, keep optimistic.
There is so much to look forward to, in fact,
that you are spoilt for choice.

SAGITTARIUS
(November 23 - December 21)
Recent events have perhaps left a
gap in your social life that is hard to
fill. Patience is needed because it
would be foolish to rush into something new if
your heart is involved. Concentrating on work
and other people will alleviate any loneliness.
This may seem a short-term solution but it is all
that is needed for now.

RACK

Move from the
start word (COAT) to
the end word (RACK)
in the same number
of steps as there are
rungs on the Word
Ladder. You must only change one letter
at a time.

COAT
COOT
ROOT
ROOK
ROCK
RACK

Ruts are awful things to get into but
even more difficult to get out of.
Being cosy is one thing, but getting
bogged down, mentally and physically, is
another. All you need is to keep your optimism
alive and use your imagination.

Just joking
• What do you call a
bear with no teeth?
A gummy bear.
• Why did the man
with one hand cross
the road?
To get to the second-hand
shop.
• I’ve always wanted to be
a doctor but I’ve never
had the patience.

FIRST QUIZ OF 2013

not as high as normal, use this week for
planning. With holidays in mind, the summer
seems far away but maybe a weekend trip will
fill the gap.

GEMINI
(May 22 - June 21)

Social activities are likely to change
at the last minute. If energy levels are

Across
7 Cooking instructions: pierce
bananas (6)
8 Plundered devastated Toledo (6)
9 Being in April, if everything is OK (4)
10 Sounds like this princess is timid
when it comes to facing a tribe of
Indians (8)
11 Wren set off for action movie (7)
13 Guide one through the story line
(5)
15 Fast, first class railway sprite (5)
17 Twelve inch high chaps used as
servants (7)
20 Iʼm done, so change the game (8)
21 To incite a dog is naughty (4)
22 Partly taking the reins in this place
(6)
23 Actorʼs remarks not for B teams (6)
Down
1 Catty remarks from your lifeline (6)
2 Excavation belongs to me (4)
3 Piggy comes from gym class and
gets a couple of hundred a year
back (7)
4 Football team in the dumps (5)
5 Nationalist opposition leader against

1.Unscramble the name of a famous
children’s television programme, first
broadcast in 1969 (two words):
SEES TEAMSTER
2. Unscramble the name of a retired
English rugby union player:
TWO MAD ANTS

Each number in
the Code
Breaker grid
represents a
different letter
of the alphabet.
In this week’s
puzzle, 20
represents J and
21 represents
W, so fill in J
every time the
figure 20
appears and W
every time the
figure 21
appears. Now,
using your
knowledge of
the English
language, work
out which
letters should
go in the
missing squares.
As you discover
the letters, fill
in other squares
with the same
number in the
main grid and
the control
grid.

Discipline is the bridge
between goals and
accomplishment.’
Jim Rohn (1930-2009) American
entrepreneur, author and
motivational speaker.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Hexagram
The purpose of the Hexagram puzzle is to place the 19 sixletter words into the 19 cells. The letters at the edges of interlocking
cells MUST BE THE SAME. The letters in the words must be written
CLOCKWISE. The word in cell 10 (BELLOW) and one letter in four
other cells are given as clues.

8:00pm Channel 4 News
8:55pm 4thought.tv
9:00pm Dispatches
9:30pm The Horse Hoarder
10:00pm Embarrassing Fat
Bodies
11:00pm What Happens in
Kavos...
12:05am One Born Every
Minute 1:10am Random Acts
1:15am Secrets of a Good
Marriage with Sharon Horgan
2:10am How to be a Good
Mother with Sharon Horgan
3:05am The Promise

RYING to think of a
common set of new
year resolutions for the
EWN readership is not easy
as some have large and
others small properties, some
have long matured gardens
and others are just starting to
develop new gardens and of
course some live in apartments with small storage
balconies or elegant roof top
gardens. However we hope
the following makes sense:
• Aim to make all
spaces
more
usable,
productive and enjoyable.
• Be adventurous but
cautious with your plantings.
Adventurous in recognising a
huge range of flowering and
evergreen plants and trees,
fruit, vegetables and herbs
can be grown in all situations
in Spain.
• Cautious in focussing on
planting mainly drought and
frost resistant plants to
minimise the cost of losses.
• Recognise in all gardens
the predominant colours will
be the multitude of green
tints and hues so add an
assortment of leaf colours.
Even at Christmas we had
getting on for forty types of

Axarquía - Málaga East

&

Sponsored by

OMES
Gardens

Some possible
New Year
resolutions for
gardeners
plants in flower. For ideas for
new colour schemes read the
chapter on ‘Painting with
plants’ in our book ‘Your
Garden in Spain – From
planning to planting and
maintenance’.
• Finally go eco and
avoid using potentially
dangerous chemical gardening products. A bottle of
neem oil insecticide now
widely available since Flower
launched two neem products,

a bottle of propolis as a
fungicide which if not in your
local garden centre is in the
health stores and honey
shops, a bottle of potassium
soap or an eco washing up
liquid plus a few cloves of
garlic to crush to add to water
or to plant in geranium pots
or under rose bushes can sort
out most garden problems.
For snails and slugs try
Neudorff’s eco snail pellets
which do not end up with

For more information about the sponsor
go to www.lineadirecta.com

Plan a colourful garden
for 2013.

Gardening
Corner

By Clodagh and Dick
Handscombe

Spain’s best known gardening
authors who have lived and
gardened in Spain for 25 years.
www.gardeninginspain.com

piles of dead snails and slimy
snail tracks.
• Start to grow a few
vegetables even if only in

large size builders’ buckets
or window boxes or on a
growing
table.
The
illustrations in ‘Apartment
Gardening Mediterranean
Style’ and ‘Growing Healthy
Vegetables in Spain’ will give
you plenty of ideas.
If you like freshly harvested
mushrooms,
a
spore
impregnated sack from a local
garden centre, agricultural cooperative or animal feed
warehouse is a very easy and

productive way to start. If you
can’t trace a sack contact
info@cultisett.com
or
cultisett@hotmail.com.
• Add some additional
fruit trees bushes or plants for
fresh seasonal fruits ranging
from peaches to redcurrants
and strawberries.
• Get out and enjoy the
first sunny days of the new
year and progress the annual
winter clean up and cutback
early to create a neat garden
and give plants plenty of time
to bud up for spring.
• If you don’t have
room for a veggie plot take on
an allotment.
• Encourage the next
generations to take an
interest in nature and gardens
beyond growing cannabis.
From what we have heard
when running question and
answer stands at village fairs
and flower festivals many
youngsters are experts.
Whatever your new year
plans for the garden and
apartment terraces do enjoy
them to the full this year.
(c) Clodagh and Dick
Handscombe
www.gardenspain.com
January 2013

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Sponsored by
THE bar of safety in
Spanish cars has been
raised during the last five
years. However, there is
still a notable gap
between
the
safety
equipment of higher and
lower segments.
In this sense, Germany
has been identified as the
most advanced country in
Europe in terms of car
protection systems.

Safety equipment gaps
found between EU markets
These are some of the
main findings in a report
by
the
Fundacion
Mapfre’s Instituto de
Seguridad Vial, a traffic

safety research institute
dependent on insurance
company Mapfre. The
report analyses how
vehicle safety systems

have evolved between
2006 and 2011.
“Car producers have
made great efforts to
enhance safety in the

Christmas comes
early for Sir Alex
Ferguson
MANCHESTER
United
manager
Sir
Alex
Ferguson took possession
of an extended range
electric vehicle, the
Chevrolet Volt. Sir Bobby
Charlton was given a
Captiva.
It was part of the club’s
partnership agreement
with the global car
manufacturer.
The Volt can travel up
to 80 kilometres gas and
emission free – and
virtually silent – before
the on-board generator
kicks in to add a further
500
kilometres
of
extended range.
“I think the Volt is
absolutely phenomenal. A
friend of mine drove one
in the States and kept
going on and on about it,
so when I had the
opportunity I said ‘yeah
I’m going to try it
because it’s the car of the
future, really.’ “I’m very
pleased with it,” Sir Alex
said.
The Chevrolet Volt is
available in Europe’s
largest
automobile
markets at a base price of
€38,425. It won the
prestigious European Car
of the Year 2012,
amongst others.
Chevrolet will become
the club’s shirt sponsor
beginning
with
the
2014/2015 season.

€306 million investment in
Sunderland production plan
INFINITI, the car brand of
Nissan Motor, confirmed it
will manufacture vehicles in
Europe from Nissan’s
production
base
in
Sunderland, UK.
The
announcement
represents a substantial
investment of around £250
million (€306 million) and is
expected to create a further
1,000 jobs at Sunderland
and across the country.
“This milestone, our first
premium product to be
manufactured at Sunderland,
reconfirms
our
commitment
to
UK
manufacturing and the
ongoing success of the
plant, which is moving up

MILESTONE: A world first.
the value chain,” Colin
Dodge, Nissan Motor
Executive Vice President,
stated.
“Just as important, the
new Infiniti, is being
developed with help from
our London design centre

and our European Technical
Centre at Cranfield,” he
added.
Business Secretary Vince
Cable said: “Sunderland will
be the only place in the
world to make this new
compact.”

last few years to
introduce
as
many
technological
innovations as possible with
lower costs,” the report
states.
However,
it
also
reminds buyers they
should request more
information
about
safety
before
buying a vehicle.
The
report
compares
three
best-seller car models
(Renault
Clio,
Volkswagen
Golf,
Ford Mondeo) in
three
different
segments.
It tries to prove
the differences in serial
safety equipment of a
same
car
model
depending on the EU
market.
In
general
terms, the conclusion is
that whether in Spain,
France, Germany or
Britain, cars have similar
features.
However, significant
differences have been
found in equipment for
lower car segments,
such as the Electronic

Stabilisation Programme
(ESP), Traction Control
System
(TCS)
and
Electronic
Brakeforce
Distribution
(EBD).
These features are more
common in Germany
than in the other three
countries.
For example, in a same
low-segment model, the
EBD is scarcely found in
Spain, France and Britain,
while it is present 80 per
cent of the times in
German models, the
report found.
Another finding is that
lower-segment cars which are the best-seller
models - have a significant
safety gap compared to
higher segment models.
The Isofix international
standard for attachment
points for child safety
seats in passenger cars,
for instance, is more rarely
found the smaller the car
is.
In A-segment cars the smallest of all - Isofix
can be found in 60 per
cent of them. ESP and
TCS do not reach 20 per
cent of the cases.

SPORT

40 EWN

3 - 9 January 2013
Axarquía- Málaga East

www.euroweeklynews.com

FA Cup shocks on the way
as big names enter draw
T

HIS weekend 32 teams will be
participating in the third round of the
FA Cup and, as always, there will be a
handful of surprises as many top-line clubs
play banana-skin ties against inferior
opponents.
There
are
four
all-Premiership
encounters. Seven-time winners and
holders Chelsea visit Southampton,

SPORTS
SCENE
By Tony Matthews
A former football player and the world’s
most prolific author of football books
(more than 100 published), Tony is also
the sports reporter for Spectrum Radio
and lives in the Cabrera mountains.

Manchester United travel to West Ham,
there’s a repeat of the Boxing Day clash
between QPR and WBA at Loftus Road
while Swansea play Arsenal at The
Emirates.
Potential giant-killing acts could be
performed by Brighton (at home to
Newcastle), Bournemouth (v Wigan),
Crawley Town (v Reading), possibly Burton
Albion at Leicester and Luton at home to
Wolves.
And with Aston Villa conceding goals left,
right and centre, they will certainly be
tested by Ipswich. Sunderland won’t find it
easy at Bolton, neither will Norwich at

Peterborough nor Stoke at Crystal Palace,
and I must wish Hastings United, the
lowest-ranked team left in the tournament,
good luck at Middlesbrough.
Elsewhere, Everton (v Cheltenham),
Liverpool (v Mansfield), Manchester City (v
Watford), Fulham (v Blackpool) and
Tottenham (v Coventry) should all go
through, but you never know; anything
can happen in the third round of the Cup
and invariably it does!
FA CUP: Upsets could happen in
the third round ties.

Festive action

* Manchester United delivered another ‘Fergie Time’
Boxing Day knockout to beat Newcastle 4-3. It
was the ‘12 goals of Christmas’ for Aston Villa who
lost 8-0 at Chelsea and 4-0 at home to Tottenham
in the space of five days (Gareth Bale scored a
hat-trick for Spurs). A goal by ex-Manchester
City star Adam Johnson gave Sunderland a late
Christmas present-win over Roberto Mancini’s men
and WBA have now attained their best half-season
points tally since 1982.
* The big game in the Championship over the festive
season saw leaders Cardiff beat Crystal
Palace 2-1. Second-placed Hull drew
0-0 with Leicester (5th) and after
losing
1-0 at second-placed
Middlesbrough, Blackburn
sacked
their
manager
Henning Berg.
* Sean O’Driscoll was also
dismissed as manager of
Nottingham Forest just two hours
after the Reds had whipped Leeds 4-

2. It’s a precarious job, managing a football team,
unless your name is Ferguson, Wenger or
Moyes!
* Also last week, lowly
Peterborough stunned Wolves 3-0 at
Molineux in the Championship while
League Two strugglers Barnet caused
an upset by winning 1-0 at tabletoppers Gillingham.
* Former World Cup referee Graham Poll
has effectively told PL managers to
‘learn the rules’ of the game and to stop blaming match
officials! This followed the remarks made by ranting and
raving Sir Alex Ferguson after Newcastle were awarded a ‘fair’
own-goal at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. I know he’s
71 but that’s no excuse. He’s been in football since he was
16 and should know the rules by now.
* Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has become the
11th batsman in cricket history to score 11,000 Test runs,
reaching the milestone against Australia on Boxing Day. And in
the same match, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke became his
country’s highest run-maker in a calendar year, scoring 1,545
in 2012, to beat Ricky Ponting’s 2005 tally of 1,544. And
staying with cricket, Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has
retired from limited over matches.
* Scot Colin Montgomery has emerged as favourite to
captain Europe’s 2014 Ryder Cup team in his home country.
* Rafael Nadal, who hasn’t played a serious game of tennis
since Wimbledon last June, had hoped to take part in a
tournament in Abu Dhabi last week but withdrew due to a
stomach bug. However, he hasn’t ruled out playing in the
Australian Open later this month.

Did you know?
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is
married to the daughter of Diego Maradona.
And Aguero’s striker-partner at The Etihad
Stadium, Mario Balotelli, once had a trial with
Barcelona

SHAKY COMEBACK:
Rafael Nadal had to
withdraw from Abu
Dhabi tournament due
to a stomach bug.